3 min readNew DelhiDec 17, 2023 07:09 AM IST
First published on: Dec 16, 2023 at 12:02 PM IST
Responding to a distress call, the Indian Navy swiftly deployed an aircraft and a warship to assist a Malta-flagged ship hijacked in the Arabian Sea, the Navy said Saturday.
Currently sailing towards the Somalian coast, MV Ruen, a commercial vessel with 18 crew on board sent the distress call Thursday, indicating the number of hijackers to be six.
By early Friday, a Navy statement said, a Naval Maritime Patrol aircraft, which was on a surveillance mission in the region, and a warship, deployed for tackling piracy in the Gulf of Aden, were out to locate and assist the hijacked vessel.
“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.
The overall situation is being closely monitored, in coordination with other agencies in the area, the Navy said. “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,” it said.
Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior officer said the Navy has been on a “24x7x365” anti-piracy patrol since 2008 and has been instrumental in safeguarding the international sea lanes of communication for global maritime trade.
“The Indian government through the Indian Navy had effectively pushed back the High-Risk Area (HRA) by effectively controlling the scourge of piracy in the Arabian Sea which reduced maritime insurance rates, hazardous pay to crew among other things,” the officer said.
Last month, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said more than 50 warships of extra-regional forces remain deployed in the Indian Ocean Region for different missions, such as anti-piracy patrol off the Gulf of Aden. Speaking at the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD), he also said that the wider Indo-Pacific too had a significant naval presence.
Earlier this year, Admiral Kumar said the Navy closely monitors trends and patterns of threats and challenges from traditional as well as non-traditional sources. Non-traditional security threats such as maritime terrorism, piracy, robbery, human, arms, drugs trafficking have added a “fresh paradigm” to the security scenario in recent years, he added.
A picture of the Malta-flagged vessel MV Ruen released by the Ministry of Defence. The vessel had a crew of 18 on board. 
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