India is set to prosecute 35 Somali pirates captured by its navy after hijacking a ship off Somalia, according to a navy official. This marks a shift from the recent practice of merely rescuing vessels and crews while leaving disarmed pirates adrift at sea.
The captured pirates are expected to arrive in India on Saturday and will be handed over to law enforcement agencies, the official stated, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to address the media.
The specific charges against the pirates remain unclear at this time, he added.
Indian navy commandos successfully liberated the Malta-flagged commercial ship MV Ruen on Saturday. The vessel had been seized by Somali pirates 450 nautical miles east of Socotra in the northern Arabian Sea on Dec 14.
This incident marks the first hijacking of a merchant ship by Somali pirates since 2017. At the height of their activities in 2011, Somali pirates inflicted an estimated $7 billion in losses on the global economy, including hefty ransom payments.
While India previously prosecuted and jailed pirates involved in major attacks, recent months have seen a shift towards leaving pirates at sea. The prosecution of the Ruen pirates will thus represent the first such action by India in years, the official noted.
India has deployed numerous warships in the Gulf of Aden and the northern Arabian Sea since December, facilitating assistance to vessels east of the Red Sea. This area has come under threat from Yemen’s Houthi militants, prompting efforts by several countries, including the United States, to secure shipping routes.
Following the hijacking of the Ruen, the Indian navy has maintained “continuous surveillance activities” in the region, utilizing aerial platforms and intelligence gathered from other vessels under investigation, the official revealed.
British maritime security firm Ambrey reported spotting the Ruen off the Somali coast on March 14.
The navy official further disclosed that the pirates had repurposed the Ruen into a mother-ship, deploying smaller boats to launch attacks on other vessels. The interception took place on March 15, as per a navy statement released on Saturday.
Additionally, another merchant vessel, MV Abdullah, was hijacked off Somalia last week, with Somali forces coordinating plans to respond alongside foreign navies.
