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How Indian Navy countered hijacking incident in Arabian Sea
Indian Navy's warship and aircraft responded to a hijacking incident in Arabian Sea involving the hijacking of Malta-flagged vessel MV Ruen.
The Indian Navy on Saturday said it responded to a hijacking incident in the Arabian Sea as six unknown men took over a Malta-flagged vessel MV Ruen with 18 crew onboard. The Navy said its warship and maritime patrol aircraft responded swiftly to the hijacking incident involving the hijacking of Malta-flagged vessel MV Ruen on Friday evening. The operation was still on.
“Responding swiftly to the developing situation, Indian Navy diverted its Naval Maritime Patrol aircraft undertaking surveillance in the area and its warship on Anti Piracy patrol in the Gulf Aden to locate & assist MV Ruen. The aircraft overflew the hijacked vessel on early morning of 15 Dec 23 and IN aircraft have been continuously monitoring movement of the vessel, which is now heading towards the coast of Somalia,” the Indian Navy said in a statement.
The Navy’s warship, mission deployed in the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy patrol, has also intercepted MV Ruen in the early hours of Saturday, it said.
Spanish navy ship rushes in
Meanwhile, a Spanish navy ship was sailing at full speed towards the Malta-flagged commercial vessel, the European Union's Somali counter-piracy force said on Friday.
EUNAVFOR's joint operations centre in Spain said it received an alert on Thursday about the "alleged pirate-hijacked vessel" Ruen, which was approximately 500 nautical miles east of Socotra Island, off Somalia.
In Somalia's breakaway Puntland region, a member of a group that helped organise raids on ships in the past told news agency Reuters he had heard pirates had managed to seize a vessel.
"Six of my pirate friends managed to capture a ship and they will bring it to the coast of the eastern region of Puntland," Mukhtar Mohamud said by phone from the coastal city of Qandala.
He did not name the vessel and Puntland's maritime authorities had no immediate comment.
EUNAVFOR said the Spanish warship Victoria had been sent to the scene "in order to gather more information and evaluate further actions".
"EUNAVFOR remains vigilant to this and other recent piracy-related events in the area of operations, the northwest Indian Ocean and the Red Sea."
The force added that it was coordinating with the broader international naval Combined Maritime Force.
British maritime security company Ambrey said it believed the Ruen had been hijacked by pirates.
(With inputs from agencies)
