Unlock the Publisher’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The Indian navy has freed the crew of a hijacked ship that Somali pirates were preparing to use as a base for attacks on other vessels, in the most violent incident yet of a recent resurgence in pirate activity off the coast of Somalia .
The operation followed a prolonged standoff over the weekend between the crew of an Indian Navy vessel, the INS Kolkata, and 35 pirates from the MV Ruen who opened fire on Indian military personnel. The Ruen, owned by the Bulgarian shipping company Navibulgar, was seized by pirates in December.
After remaining for months off the coast of Eyl in Somalia, the Ruen headed further out to sea last week, with leading maritime security experts believing the pirates intended to use the ship as a base for attacks. Somali pirates often use larger ships as “mother ships” from which to launch assaults hundreds of miles offshore.
The Indian Navy wrote on social media platform X on Saturday that it had “successfully cornered and forced all 35 pirates to surrender and ensured the safe evacuation of 17 crew members. . . from the pirate ship without any damage.”
Ambrey, a UK-based maritime security company, said it believed the 17 people freed were the entire remaining crew of the Ruen after a crew member was earlier flown home from Somalia for medical reasons.
Maritime security bulletins on Friday had reported that pirates were threatening to kill crew members unless the Indian Navy stopped firing at pirates on the Ruen. The navy posted images online of pirates firing into the air, apparently at its helicopters.
The Indian Navy’s action follows Thursday’s seizure of the Abdullah, a Bangladeshi-owned bulk carrier, 600 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. There have been reports in the maritime intelligence community that pirates based on the Ruen may have been involved in that attack.
Somalia’s pirates have resumed attacks in recent months as navies off its coast have focused on countering the threat to ships from Yemen’s Houthis, who have fired missiles at dozens of ships. The Iran-backed Houthis say they are acting in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
The head of the United Nations International Maritime Organization told the Financial Times last month that shipping companies must strengthen security when transiting waters off Somalia to prevent the return of large-scale piracy.
The UK’s Dubai-based Maritime Trade Operations Office warned in January that two hijacking-based “pirate action groups” dhow they waited in international waters hundreds of miles off the Somali coast.
At the height of Somalia’s piracy crisis between 2009 and 2012, Somali pirates seized dozens of ships each year, some as far as 1,000 nautical miles from Somalia. The business had all but ceased until recently.
The weekend operation marks the second time this year that the Indian Navy has freed a ship seized by pirates. In January, it successfully freed the bulk carrier Lila Norfolk after pirates briefly took control of the vessel.
The Indian Navy has multiple assets deployed in the region to combat both piracy and the Houthi threat.
“The Indian Navy remains committed to maritime safety and security of seafarers in the region,” it said in a statement.