Drone strike causes explosion in merchant ship in Indian Ocean, no casualties

An attack by a suspected Houthi drone caused an explosion and fire on a commercial ship in the Arabian Sea on Saturday. The crew, which was carrying 20 Indians and an Indian Coast Guard vessel, was an Israeli-affiliated vessel. The vessel was carrying crude oil. The fire has been doused and no casualties have been reported so far. Soon after the incident, Indian Coast Guard ship ICGS Vikram came to the aide of the commercial ship ‘MV Chem Pluto’, 217 nautical miles off Porbandar coast. The vessel was on its way to Mangalore from a port in Saudi Arabia. 

Meanwhile, maritime surveillance aircraft Indian Coast Guard Dornier has established communication with the merchant ship.  Immediately after the attack, the ship had turned off its tracking mechanism, which is known as the Automatic Identification System. The power generation in the ship has been restored and it will soon set out for its destination, according to Indian Coast Guard officials, reported ANI.

"UKMTO have received a report of an attack by Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) on a vessel causing an explosion and fire. Fire extinguished, no casualties. Authorities are investigating," said the UK Maritime Trade Operations on platform X.