Info Fusion Centre comes to aid of hijacked ship

NOT many would know that the anchor of the Indian Navy's quick reaction to the distress call by the hijacked Merchant Vessel Ruen lay in Gurugram where the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) is located.

- BAYAN SINGH

"At the back end IFC-IOR coordinated responses and assistance between the Navy and the ship owner," said Lieutenant Commander Rohit Jadhav, Operations Officer of IFC-IOR to the media on Friday.

"Quickly we got hold of the owner of the ship," said Captain Rohit Bajpai, Director IFCIOR. "We were in touch day and night while an Indian Navy patrol aircraft that was in the region was continuously monitoring the vessel till INS Kochi, on deployment in the Gulf of Aden, reached the location on the morning of December 16.

"It was ascertained from the crew that the citadel onboard MV Ruen was breached and all crew members were held hostage by the pirates. One of the crew members was also injured," said Capt Bajpai.