The Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) located in Gurugram played a quiet but crucial role in the backend as the hijacking incident of (Merchant Vessel) m.v. Ruen unfolded by coordinating between the Navy and with the ship owner. The centre, which marked its 5th anniversary on Friday, is gearing up for expansion to eventually host 40 International Liaison Officers (ILO) as it has received government sanction for expanding infrastructure.
“At the backend IFC-IOR has coordinated responses and assistance between the Navy and the ship owner,” said Lt. Cdr. Rohit Jadhav, Operations Officer of the centre, in a media interaction.
Elaborating on this further, Capt Bajpai, Director, IFC-IOR, said they got hold of the company and “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 m.v Ruen had been breached and all crew members were held hostage by the pirates. One of the crew member had also sustained injuries, but was reported to be stable,” he stated.
