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Bulgaria’s deputy prime minister on Sunday thanked India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, external affairs minister S Jaishankar for rescuing the hijacked vessel MV Ruen from pirates which had Bulgarian nationals on board. “I express my gratitude to the navy for the successful operation to rescue the hijacked vessel Ruen &its crew members, including 7 BG nationals. Thank you for support &great effort. We continue to work together to protect lives of the crew,” Bulgarian minister Mariya Gabriel posted on X. ‘That’s what friends are for,” Jaishankar replied.
The Indian Navy on Saturday made 35 pirates to surrender and rescued MV Ruen which was hijacked by Somali pirates on December 14 last year.
All crew members were rescued unhurt on Saturday.
The Navy deployed its P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, frontline ships INS Kolkata and INS Subhadra, and high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle. The elite MARCOS commandos were air-dropped for the operation by C-17 aircraft. During the 40-hour operation, the pirates fired on the Indian Navy and the Navy responded in self-defence. “INS Kolkata, in the last 40 hours, through concerted actions successfully cornered and coerced all 35 Pirates to surrender and ensured safe evacuation of 17 crew members in the evening today from the pirate vessel without any injury,” Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said.
The hijacking of Bulgaria-owned MV Ruen in December 2023 was the first time since 2017 that any cargo was boarded by Somali pirates.
Bulgaria’s foreign ministry said it was seeking the “speedy return” of seven rescued Bulgarian crew members. The other crew were nine Myanmar and one Angolan national.
The Indian navy has kept tabs on the MV Ruen since it was seized by Somali pirates 380 nautical miles east of the Yemeni island of Socotra in December. The pirates, who at the time released one injured Bulgarian sailor into the care of the Indian navy, had taken the MV Ruen and its remaining 17 crew members to Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland, where the Indian navy said it was moored off the city of Bosaso.
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