Indian Navy Rushes Warship to Rescue Maltese Vessel Hijacked in Arabian Sea

The Indian Navy is closely monitoring a hijacking situation of a ship in the Arabian Sea. Quickly responding to a distress signal from the Maltese vessel, the Indian warship diverted its anti-piracy patrol towards the cargo carrier MV Ruen, which has 18 crew members on board.

After receiving a Mayday signal on the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) portal on Thursday, the navy diverted its maritime patrol aircraft and anti-piracy patrol warship — deployed in the Gulf of Aden — to locate and assist MV Ruen.

“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 Navy’s statement read.

The maritime patrol aircraft conducted an overflight inspection of the hijacked vessel early on Friday and since then has been consistently monitoring it.

The Indian Navy in a statement said that the Mayday message received on UKMTO indicated that six unknown persons had boarded the vessel, adding that MV Ruen was headed towards the coast of Somalia.

“The Indian Navy remains committed to being a first responder in the region and ensuring safety of merchant shipping, along with international partners and friendly foreign countries,” the statement added.

The cargo ship, Ruen, managed by Bulgarian shipping company Navibulgar was off the Yemeni island of Socotra when it was hijacked on Thursday, UKMTO said. According to the shipping company, the crew members are nationals of Angola, Bulgaria and Myanmar, an AP report said.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Maria Gabriel commented on this situation and told reporters that necessary steps have been taken to pass on the information to all foreign partners and institutions that Bulgaria will count on to provide assistance.

The vessel hijack seems to be the work of Somalian pirates, who have been comparatively less active in the recent years. This is because several countries deployed their counter-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

The UKMTO on Friday also issued a warning to other ships in the region, informing them as per the beliefs of the security manager for the Ruen, “the crew no longer has control of the vessel.”

The European Union’s anti-piracy force in the region said that Spanish warship — Victoria — was on its way to intercept the “alleged pirate-hijacked vessel.”

EUNAVFOR’s joint operations centre in Spain said, “EUNAVFOR remains vigilant to this and other recent piracy-related events in the area of operations, the northwest Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.”

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that in Somalia’s Puntland region, a member of a group — which assisted in organising raids on ships — told that he heard pirates had managed to takeover a vessel.

Mukhtar Mohamud, from the coastal city of Qandala, said that six of his friends managed to seize a ship and they will bring to the eastern region, Puntland’s coast.

(With agency inputs)