Israel-affiliated cargo ship hit in drone attack off India coast; Coast Guard, Navy respond

The Indian Navy and Coast Guard on Saturday (December 23) afternoon urgently sent vessels towards a “Liberian-flagged” merchant ship associated with Israel that was attacked by an unmanned aerial vehicle off Gujarat coast earlier in the day.

The attack led to an explosion and a fire on the merchant ship with 21 Indians on Saturday morning, disrupting its power supply, Coast Guard sources told news agency PTI. However, the 22-member crew and the vessel, MV Chem Pluto, are “safe”, they said.

Barring the 21 Indians, including the master, there is a Nepali citizen on board.

What happened?

The ship, carrying crude oil, was on its way to New Mangalore from Saudi Arabia when it was struck by the drone in the Arabian Sea, 217 nautical miles off the Porbandar coast, right outside the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“The MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) Mumbai received an email from the ship’s agent, Fleet Management, about a fire on board suspected due to a drone attack 217 nautical miles off Porbandar around 10 am,” an official from the maritime security agency told PTI.

The Indian Coast Guard ship, ICGS Vikram, was on patrol of the Indian EEZ when the MV Chem Pluto sent out an SOS and it was diverted to the site. Later in the evening, news agency ANI quoted Coast Guard officials as saying that its Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft had also established communication with the MV Chem Pluto.

They reportedly said that after the attack, the ship had switched off its Automatic Identification System, which can be used for tracking the vessel. The power-generation system of the ship is now functional and more checks are being carried out before it sets out for its destination, the Coast Guard told ANI.

Navy on alert

Indian Navy officials said a maritime patrol aircraft was also sent to the area. It flew overhead the merchant vessel and established contact with it. “The aircraft ascertained the safety of the vessel and its crew,” said a Navy official.

The Navy also dispatched a frontline warship for the safety of the cargo vessel, which is now heading towards the nearest port.

“The crew could extinguish the fire and the engineers are working to restore electricity. The MRCC also diverted (merchant navy ship) MV Marlin which found that the crew was safe,” the MRCC official said. “We will be investigating if it was a drone attack,” the official added.

First warning

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and maritime security firm Ambrey were the first to report the incident on Saturday.

“Liberia-flagged chemical/products tanker... was Israel-affiliated,” security firm Ambrey said in a statement earlier in the day.

UKMTO, the British maritime agency, said in a warning note, “UKMTO have received a report of an attack on a vessel causing an explosion and fire. Incident 200NM South West of Veraval, India. Fire extinguished, no casualties. Authorities are investigating.”

“Some structural damage was also reported and some water was taken onboard. The vessel was Israel-affiliated. She had last called Saudi Arabia and was destined for India at the time,” Ambrey was quoted as saying on its website about the incident according to media reports.

Repeated drone attacks

Another Israel-owned cargo ship was damaged last month in a similar drone attack in the Indian Ocean that was allegedly carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards of Iran, which is opposed to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

In fact, Iran-backed Houthis, which support Hamas, have mounted several attacks on the ships in the Red Sea amid the raging Israel-Hamas war. US Pentagon in a statement has claimed that the Houthis have launched more than 100 drone and missile attacks on commercial vessels passing through the Red Sea.

(With agency inputs)