The Indian Navy has evacuated a bruised sailor from a Malta-flagged hijacked vessel off the coast of Somalia, news agency PTI reported. The sailor, a Bulgarian national, was one of the 18 crew members onboard the cargo ship and was injured in firing by the pirates. He was evacuated by frontline ship INS Kochi to provide medical assurance. "The Indian Navy rendered assistance in evacuation of an injured crew member from the hijacked vessel MV Ruen in the early hours of Monday," PTI quoted an official as saying. "The injured crew member had sustained injuries during the piracy incident but was reported to be stable. The injured crew member was medically managed onboard the ship but due to urgent medical attention required, which was beyond the scope of the ship, he has been transferred ashore at Oman," the official further said. Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said the naval force remains committed to rendering assistance to the mariners at sea. Responding to a distress call, the Indian Navy had swiftly deployed an aircraft and a warship to assist a Malta-flagged ship hijacked in the Arabian Sea. The maritime patrol aircraft conducted surveillance missions in the area while its warship on anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden was pressed to locate and assist MV Ruen. “The aircraft overflew the hijacked vessel early December 15 and the aircraft has been continuously monitoring movement of the vessel, which is now heading towards the coast of Somalia,” the Navy statement said, adding the Naval warship intercepted MV Ruen on the morning of December 16.
