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.
While no armed intervention was undertaken to ensure crew safety onboard the hijacked vessel, requisite actions were taken by the warship to ensure suitable treatment of the crew by the pirates, the Navy has stated. The 18-member crew of the Malta-flagged vessel consists of nine Bulgarians and nine Myanmar nationals.
The hijacked vessel has entered the territorial waters of Somalia late on December 17. INS Kochi convinced the pirates to release the injured crew and he was taken to the Salalah port in Oman on December 19 for medical attention beyond the scope of the ship. Following the incident, the Navy has deployed another indigenous guided missile destroyer in the region to augment anti-piracy efforts, Capt. Bajpai said, adding, “This is the first incident of piracy after a long time.”
Three major hotspots
Briefing on the major threats being monitored, Sri Lankan ILO Cdr. Indika Prasanna Wijesinghe stated that for piracy and armed robbery there were three major hotspots — South East Asia, Gulf of Guinea and Horn of Africa. There was a rise in numbers in South East Asia while there was a rise in intensity in the Gulf of Guinea, he noted.
On the expansion of ILOs at the centre, Capt. Bajpai said they aim to have up to 40 ILOs at the centre likely by 2025 or 2026. Work on building a new complex is set to begin shortly. The IFC-IOR was inaugurated on December 2018 within the premises of IMAC to coordinate with regional countries on maritime security. The centre aims to strengthen maritime security in the region and beyond, by building a common coherent maritime situational picture and acting as a maritime security information sharing hub for the region, Capt. Bajpai explained. “We have now become the hub and with the database it has become easier to understand trends.”
Talking of the collaborations at the centre, the ILO from Singapore Col. Ong Yew Kuan Raymondsaid what they were doing here is building trust. “What we do here is to make sure we provide actionable and verifiable information,” he noted, stressing on timely and reliable information for swift action.
The centre currently hosts 12 International Liaison Officers (ILOs) from Australia, France, Italy, Japan, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, U.K. and U.S. and actively collaborates with 43 multinational constructs and over 25 partner countries, Lt. Cdr. Jadhav said. “The ILOs are our biggest asset,” he said, adding, “We on a daily basis monitor, validate and compile maritime information, do an analysis and share with our international partners and stakeholders.”
The IFC-IOR is located within the premises of the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC), the nodal agency for maritime data fusion set up after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks which itself is set to be upgraded into the National Maritime Domain Awareness (NDMA) centre in the near future.
Responding to questions, Capt. Bajpai flagged drug trafficking, Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and hybrid nature of conflict-related incidents as the top threats in the maritime domain.
Conclave of chiefs
Meanwhile, the 8th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Conclave of Chiefs (CoC) hosted by Royal Thai Navy at Bangkok from December 19 to 22 concluded on Friday in which Indian Navy Chief Adm R. Hari Kumar attended with a three-member delegation.
“During the CoC, Thailand assumed the duties of Chair of IONS and Work Plan for next two years was finalised. As a first, Flag designed by India was selected as the IONS Flag,” the Navy said in a statement. India also took over as the co-Chair of IONS working groups on maritime security and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) for the forthcoming cycle. South Korean Navy became the latest ‘Observer’ of the forum, taking the strength to 34 (25 members and nine observers).
During the conclave, Adm. Kumar held a series of bilateral interactions with other Naval Chiefs and also visited Indian Naval Ship Kadmatt, at Bangkok. IONS was conceived by the Indian Navy in 2008 as a forum which seeks to enhance maritime cooperation among Navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region. India is scheduled to take over as the Chair of IONS (2025-27) during 9th CoC planned to be conducted in India in end 2025, the Navy stated.
