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Merchant vessel with 20 Indians onboard catches fire off Gujarat’s coast after drone attack

Surat:  A merchant vessel, with 21 Indian crew, was hit by a suspected drone around 217 nautical miles off the Porbandar coast in the Arabian Sea.  MV Chem Pluto caught fire after a suspected drone attack.

All crew members are reported to be safe. The  vessel sailing under a Liberian flag, was carrying crude oil from Al Jubail port in Saudi Arabia to Mangalore.. The fire has been reportedly extinguished but has affected the functioning of vessel.

The Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard vessels are reached near the vessel. The Indian Navy has also sent a maritime patrol aircraft

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‘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,’ British maritime security firm Ambrey said on its website.

‘The vessel has crude oil and was going towards Mangalore from a port in Saudi Arabia. As per inputs, the fire has been extinguished but has affected its functioning. The ICGS Vikram was deployed on the patrol of the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone when it was directed towards the merchant ship in distress. All the crew are safe, which includes around 20 Indians. The ICGS Vikram has alerted all ships in the area to provide assistance to it,’ news agency ANI quoted defence personnel as saying.

.Meanwhile,  an Indian-flagged crude oil tanker in the Red Sea was hit by a drone launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen. The US Central Command said this on on X, formerly Twitter. M/V Saibaba, a Gabon-owned tanker was attacked.

The US military said that it received reports of two ships in the Southern Red Sea coming under attack. The M/V BLAAMANEN, a Norwegian-flagged chemical/oil tanker, reported a near miss by a Houthi attack drone with no injuries or damage. The second vessel, M/V SAIBABA, a Gabon-owned, Indian-flagged crude oil tanker, reported being hit by a one-way attack drone with no injuries.

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