On Saturday (23rd December), a drone reportedly struck an Israeli merchant ship in the Arabian Sea. The attack was carried out via an Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS), causing a fire on board.
As per reports, no group has claimed responsibility for the drone strike, which took place 200 nautical miles southwest of Veraval City of Gujarat.
In a statement, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said, ” (We) received a report of an attack by Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) on a vessel causing an explosion and fire. Incident 200NM South West of Veraval, India. Fire extinguished, no casualties. Authorities are investigating.”
“Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO,” it further added. Citing government sources, News18 reported that the site of the attack was far from the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
According to WION journalist Sidhant Sibal, the Indian Navy is responding to the situation. An Indian naval aircraft and a warship have been dispatched to provide assistance.
According to ANI, the Indian Coast Guard ship ICGS Vikram was dispatched by the Navy to assist the merchant ship, identified as MV Chem Pluto. The vessel was reportedly carrying crude oil and going towards Mangalore in Karnataka from Saudi Arabia.
All crew including 20 Indians onboard the merchant ship are reportedly safe.
They are ascertaining the safety of the merchant ship and its crew. It must be mentioned that there has been a recent surge of attacks on Israeli-linked vessels by Lebanon-based Houthi rebels.
The intensified attacks on commercial and merchant ships in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels could drastically surge prices of oil, and insurance premiums for ships and other goods, creating a domino effect for inflation, as warned by experts.
Following these attacks, several major oil and shipping firms have announced to either suspend or re-route the trade away from the Red Sea creating a major disruption in the maritime trade. It is important to note that this disruption poses a higher risk than the one recently faced during the 2021 Suez Canal blockade crisis.