Indian Navy Vigilant: Monitoring Arabian Sea Amid Suspected Drone Threat

The Indian Navy quickly responded to the incident involving the drone attack on MT Chem Pluto in the Arabian Sea. The Ministry of Defence said in a press release that they are continuing to keep a close eye on the situation with all parties involved.

There were 22 people on board the ship—21 Indian and 1 Vietnamese. At 7:45 a.m. on December 23, a projectile, most likely a missile or drone, hit it and set it on fire.

As soon as the Indian Navy saw that things were getting worse, they quickly sent a maritime patrol aircraft that was in the area to do routine surveillance. The Indian Navy also sent the ship Mormugao to check out the situation and offer help to MT Chem Pluto.

At 1:15 p.m. on December 23, the naval maritime patrol aircraft flew over MT Chem Pluto and made contact with the crew. The 22 people on the crew said they were all safe and that the fire was out. The Ministry said that the Navy also told all Indian maritime agencies about how things were going so that they could help as needed.

At 7:30 pm on December 23, the Indian Naval Ship Mormugao talked to MT Chem Pluto to see if it needed any help. The CGS Vikram, which was also at the scene, was told to take the ship to Mumbai.

When the MV Chem Pluto gets to Mumbai, a Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialist will get on board to clean the ship and do more research.

The Ministry also said that the Indian Navy is still keeping a close eye on the situation with all parties involved and is still committed to making sure that merchant ships in the area are safe.