Indian Navy rescues hijacked merchant vessel, frees 17 crew members after 40-hour-long operation

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, March 16

After a 40-hour-long operation at sea, the Navy on Saturday freed 17 crew members of a hijacked merchant vessel and made 35 pirates surrender. The ship has also been secured.

The operation started on March 15, when a hijacked merchant vessel that was being used by pirates as a base opened fire on an Indian Navy helicopter in the Arabian Sea. The Navy responded to the firing and its warship, INS Kolkata, intercepted the pirate vessel.

Pirates had been using merchant vessel MV Ruen, which was hijacked by Somali pirates on December 14, 2023. It was sailing, as pirate ship were conducting acts of piracy on high seas.

Commander Vivek Madhwal, Navy spokesperson, said, “After 40 hours of efforts and concerted actions, the Navy today successfully cornered and coerced all 35 pirates to surrender and ensured safe evacuation of 17 crew members in the evening.” The merchant vessel has also been sanitised for presence of illegal arms, ammunition and contraband, he said.

INS Kolkata had carried out the interception of the pirate ship 2,600 km west of India coast and forced it to stop. In the meantime, a C-17 plane of the IAF was used to airdrop fully armed Marcos commandoes and a ‘Prahar’ team that specialises in close quarter attacks.

The Navy tasked another warship, INS Subhadra, already deployed for anti-piracy duties, to assist INS Kolkatta, while the Predator drone and the Boeing P8I maritime reconnaissance plane kept a constant watch in the air.

The Navy said INS Kolkatta had taken actions as per international law, in self-defence and to counter piracy and with minimal force necessary to neutralise the pirates’ threat to shipping and seafarers.