India captures cargo ship Ruen from pirates, rescues crew: Navy

India’s Navy captured the ship the MV Ruen from Somali pirates off the Indian coast Saturday, the military said, rescuing the crew and ending the three-month hijacking of the Maltese-flagged bulk carrier.

An Indian warship “in the last 40 hours, through concerted actions successfully cornered and coerced all 35 Pirates to surrender & ensured safe evacuation of 17 crew members in the evening today #16Mar 24 from the pirate vessel without any injury,” the navy posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The pirates who allegedly hijacked the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo vessel on December 14 opened fire on the navy ship in international waters on Friday, the spokesperson said without providing further details.

Somali pirates who seized the vessel in December may have used it in the takeover of a Bangladesh-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Somalia this week, the European Union naval force said on Thursday.

Until the Ruen was seized, there had been no successful hijacking of a merchant ship by Somali pirates since 2017.

At least 17 incidents of hijacking, attempted hijacking or suspicious approaches have been recorded by the Indian navy since December, Indian officials have said.

India deployed at least a dozen warships east of the Red Sea in January to provide security against pirates and has investigated more than 250 vessels.