The 44-hour stand off at sea and its resolution

“Indian warship, if you come any closer, we will shoot, and the 17 hostages on board will be harmed.” This was a message from the pirate-captured merchant vessel MV Ruen to the Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata, some 380 km east of Somalia. The incident occurred on March 15 last year and led to a 44-hour-long standoff at sea between armed pirates leveraging the lives of hostages and the Indian Navy.

The standoff ended with a daring mid-sea rescue of hostages and the freeing of the 45,000-tonne Bulgarian merchant vessel from 35 armed Somali pirates. Captain Sharad Sinsunwal, the commander of INS Kolkata, has penned a 17-page first-person account for the Naval War College Journal ‘Indian Naval Dispatch’ in its latest edition, with added inputs from decision-makers Vice Admiral Sanjay J Singh, the Western Navy Commander, and Rear Admiral Praveen Nair, the fleet commander of the Western Fleet.

INS Kolkata was headed home after a two-month-long deployment in the Gulf of Aden when the Navy’s Western Command, headquartered in Mumbai, sent a message about a pirate ship. INS Kolkata signalled its readiness to undertake the task. The pirates were armed with automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and years of determination and experience. It required sustained, coercive, and coordinated action on the part of the Indian Navy to overcome the pirates while ensuring the absolute safety of the hostages.

INS Kolkata closed in on the merchant vessel and transmitted its identity over an open marine radio channel, asking the ship to stop. “This is not an Indian ship, these are not Indian waters, there are no Indians on board, so we do not take orders from you,” a voice from MV Ruen retorted over the radio. INS Kolkata positioned itself 400 yards away from the pirate-operated ship. Pirates carrying rifles were seen roaming freely on the upper decks. The pirates even produced the ship’s erstwhile captain – a Bulgarian national – who said all 17 crew members were safe but were being held hostage.

INS Kolkata launched a drone, which the pirates shot down. The Maritime Operations Centre (MOC) in Mumbai was informed, and commanders reviewed the legal and tactical situation. Legally, the Ruen was a ‘pirate ship’ that posed a danger to international shipping. Armed with a clear directive, INS Kolkata fired warning shots with its 76 mm gun across the bow and stern of Ruen. This shook the pirates up.

A proposal to send in eight marine commandos was not agreed upon by the Western Navy headquarters in Mumbai. By the forenoon of March 15, INS Kolkata was tasked to stop the pirates. Snipers shot down the GPS antennas and navigation radars. The pirate leader said the ship would not stop under any circumstance and would continue towards Somalia. INS Kolkata maneuverer behind the MV and fired a 30 mm calibre ammunition at the stern. The Ruen’s steering got damaged, and the ship stopped.

INS Kolkata offered the pirates safe passage to proceed unhindered to Somalia if they agreed to surrender. The proposal was not accepted. Meanwhile, the ship’s owners sent an email to the Indian Navy requesting that INS Kolkata should not fire at MV Ruen. They were negotiating a release against ransom.

In the meantime, an Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 plane took off from a base in North India to pick up a group of marine commandos from Mumbai, who would be para dropped mid-sea to tackle the situation. By March 16, another Indian Navy warship, INS Subhadra, arrived on the scene. An Indian Navy maritime reconnaissance plane, the Boeing P8I, kept an eye from overhead.

Vice Admiral Sanjay J Singh approved the plan: “The pirates must surrender or sink.” INS Kolkata started firing shots, and on March 17, just before sunset, the commandos were para dropped. The pirates surrendered, ending the 44-hour operation. Significant quantities of multi-calibre ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades were recovered from the ship, which was repaired mid-sea by Navy engineers and taken under escort to Oman. The pirates were brought to Mumbai and handed over to the Mumbai police.