Vessel with 21 Indians hit by ‘drone’ off Gujarat, crew safe

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 23

A suspected drone strike has damaged a merchant ship, MV Chem Pluto, in the Arabian Sea, 217 nautical miles (approximately 400 km) off the Porbandar coast in Gujarat.

All 22 crew members, including 21 Indians, were safe, said sources, adding that the drone strike caused a fire that had been extinguished, but it had affected the vessel’s functioning.

While the sources said there was some damage to the ship, news agency Reuters said it had also taken “some water onboard”. The vessel, listed as a chemical and oil carrying tanker, was reportedly bringing crude oil from a port in Saudi Arabia to Mangalore port.

No claim of responsibility for strike

• No claim of responsibility for strike on the Liberia-flagged vessel, also having “Israeli affiliation”
• In Nov, an Iran drone had struck Israeli-owned ship in Indian Ocean

An Indian Navy surveillance plane had established contact with the vessel and conducted an aerial check, Navy officials said. A warship had also been sent to the spot, they said, adding that the Navy responded to the distress calls over the maritime network. The Indian Coast Guard’s Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft had also established communication with the vessel.

The Coast Guard diverted its ship — ICGS Vikram — to the area where the merchant vessel was located. After the drone attack, the vessel switched off its automatic identification system which can be used for tracking it.

The power generation system was now functional and more checks were being carried out before the vessel sets out for its destination, the authorities here said.

Earlier on Saturday morning, the United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported about the attack on the vessel, 217 nautical miles off Porbandar around 10 am.

The UKMTO said the vessel was flagged in Liberia, while Reuters said the vessel was affiliated to Israel.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strike. Last month, an Israeli-owned cargo ship was attacked by a suspected drone of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Indian Ocean.

These strikes have come within a week of ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that hit three commercial ships in the Red Sea. A US warship shot down three drones in self-defence during the assault.

The strikes have a marked an escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the West Asia linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

Last week, speaking on the Red Sea attacks, the US military’s Central Command said: “These attacks represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security. They have jeopardised the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world.”

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