Indian Navy Intensifies Maritime Security Operations In Arabian Sea Amid Rising Concerns

Because of recent accidents at sea in the Arabian Sea, the Indian Navy has started focused marine security operations in the area. The Indian Navy said in a statement that to protect the waters and make sure that maritime operations are safe, it has greatly increased the number of warships in the area and improved air surveillance.

The move was made because of events that made people worry about the safety of trade and shipping lines in the area.

“The Indian Navy has increased the presence of warships and air surveillance in the area,” the navy said. The navy is working closely with other maritime agencies across the country to organize their efforts and put in place strong safety measures.

The main goal of these missions is to keep the Arabian Sea safe and keep merchant marine activities from being threatened. Many people think that the bigger naval presence will serve as a deterrent and make the seas safer and more stable generally.

Notably, these steps are being taken after the attack on the commercial ship MV Chem Pluto on December 23 by what is thought to have been a drone.

The Indian Navy put several Guided Missile Destroyers, such as INS Mormugao, INS Kochi, and INS Kolkata, in different parts of the Arabian Sea after the attack to keep a presence that could be used as a warning, the Indian Navy said in a news release on Monday.

Also, maritime reconnaissance P8I aircraft with a long range are usually asked to keep the domain aware.

According to the news statement, the Western Naval Command’s Maritime Operations Center is closely watching the situation with the Coast Guard and all other relevant groups.

At the same time, the chemical/oil tanker MV Chem Pluto, which was flying the flag of Liberia and had 21 Indian and 1 Vietnamese workers on board, arrived in Mumbai and safely anchored at the outer anchorage off of Mumbai at 15:00 hrs on Monday.

When the Indian Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal team got there, they checked out the ship to get a sense of what kind of attack it was.

Some of the things that were found on the ship and in the attack area pointed to a drone attack, but more investigative and technical testing is needed to find out the exact type and amount of explosives that were used.

The Indian Navy said that a joint investigation by several agencies had begun after the Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Team finished their analysis. The company-in-charge in Mumbai also gave the go-ahead for MV Chem Pluto to continue her work.

The ship will have to go through required inspections by the different governing bodies before it can start transferring goods from one ship to another (STS).

After this, the broken part of MV Chem Pluto will probably be docked and fixed.

In addition, defense officials said that the Indian Navy warships would be patrolling the area even more to keep Indian and other commercial ships safe.

On Saturday, the MV Chem Pluto caught fire after what was thought to be an attack by a drone. The ship had 20 Indian and 1 Vietnamese crew members. After that, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) took it back, the ICG said in a statement.

The merchant ship allegedly set sail from the UAE on December 19 and was scheduled to arrive at New Mangalore port on December 25.

The official statement says that on December 23, the Indian Coast Guard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Mumbai got a report of a fire on the MV Chem Pluto, which was allegedly attacked by what was thought to be a drone strike or an aerial platform.

The Indian Coast Guard Maritime Coordination Centre (MRCC) got in touch with the ship’s contact in real time, confirmed that no one was hurt, and promised all help.

It was also found out that the crew had put out the fire on the ship. The MRCC Mumbai has activated ISN and quickly sent other merchant ships nearby to Chem Pluto to help make the ship safer.

“The Indian Coast Guard also sent the Offshore Patrol Vessel Vikram and the Coast Guard Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft to help Chem Pluto.” The Dornier airplane from the Coast Guard has cleaned up the area and made contact with Chem Pluto. Following an inspection of damage and repairs to its power production systems, the ship has begun its journey towards Mumbai, the statement added.