“There have been 30 attack by drone or pirate ship since November 19, 2023.” “That means there will be about one attack every day for 35 days,” said Naval Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar.
Kumar was speaking to the press at a briefing at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on Tuesday, just after the newest stealth-guided missile cruiser, INS Imphal, was put into service. He was very worried about the rising number of attacks by drones and pirates.
“As you may know, we are currently involved in operations to stop piracy and drone strikes.” At the moment, the growing number of strikes is a worry. Looking back at the past year, there were only a few incidents—about four or five, happening about once every two to three months. “That means the frequency has definitely gone up,” he said. He also said, “We have decided to take very strong action to protect our merchant shipping,” which showed how serious the situation was.
Our research has shown that insurance rates go up after there is a disturbance at sea. The Joint War Committee in London, which is made up of shipping and insurance companies, has chosen to raise the costs of both insurance and freight. What we’re doing now is trying to push this area away from our coasts so that our ships are safe from any harm, he said.
Kumar added more information by saying, “About half of the 30 attacks that were reported happened in the Red Sea.” Notably, there have been no attacks on commercial ships with Indian flags. There were, however, attacks on ships with flags from other countries but Indian crew members. These attacks happened on about five or six ships. Luckily, everyone on the team is safe, so there’s no need to worry.
Kumar said that the attack that was closest to the coast, about 220 miles away and outside the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), is being closely watched.
watched over to stop any more expansion. He made it clear that they were committed to keeping Indian ships safe.
A drone hit the commercial ship MV Chem Pluto on December 23, about 217 nautical miles from Porbandar. The ship had a crew of 21 Indians. An attack by drones happened on December 24 in the southern Red Sea to a commercial crude oil ship flying the flag of Gabon. The crew of 25 Indians was on board.
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