The Indian Navy on Saturday recaptured a ship from Somalian “pirates” off the Indian coast, the military said, rescuing the crew and ending a three-month takeover of the Maltese-flagged bulk carrier MV Ruen.
The hijacking of the ship in December last year was the first time since 2017 that any cargo vessel had been successfully boarded by Somalian pirates.
“#IndianNavy thwarts designs of Somalian pirates to hijack ships plying through the region by intercepting ex-MV Ruen,” the navy wrote on X.
Photo: Indian Navy on X via AP
The Indian warship INS Kolkata “in the last 40 hours, through concerted actions successfully cornered and coerced all 35 Pirates to surrender & ensured safe evacuation of 17 crew members,” the navy wrote.
Indian forces first intercepted the MV Ruen on Friday, the navy wrote.
“The vessel opened fire on the warship, which is taking actions [in accordance with] international law, in self-defence & to counter piracy, with minimal force necessary to neutralise the pirates’ threat to shipping and seafarers,” the navy wrote.
None of the rescued crew members were injured in the multi-day operation, which was carried out in conjunction with several naval vessels, as well as helicopters and other aircraft, the navy said. The pirated ship was recaptured nearly 1,400 nautical miles (2,593km) from the Indian coast, the military said.
The Indian Navy has kept tabs on the MV Ruen since it was seized by Somalian pirates 380 nautical miles east of the Yemeni island of Socotra. The pirates, who at the time released one injured sailor into the care of the navy, had taken the MV Ruen and its remaining 17 crew members to Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland, where the navy said it was moored off the city of Bosaso.
The Indian military has stepped up its anti-piracy efforts in the past few months following an uptick in maritime assaults, including in the Arabian Sea and by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
Pirate attacks off the Somalian coast peaked in 2011 — with gunmen launching attacks as far as 3,655km from the Somalian coast in the Indian Ocean — before falling off sharply in the past few years.
However, December’s attack followed a spike in armed seaborne attacks around the Horn of Africa not seen in years.
Analysts say Somalian piracy poses nowhere near the threat it did in 2011, when navies around the world had to deploy warships to beat them back.
However, this recent upswing in pirate activity has raised further concerns about marine security and shipping at a time when crucial trade corridors off Yemen have come under siege.
Since the Houthi attacks, many cargo ships have slowed down far out at sea to await instructions on whether to proceed to the Red Sea, which experts say can make them vulnerable to attack.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS