Earlier this week, two Indian-bound merchant ships were attacked in the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea. On Tuesday, Rajnath Singh, the defense minister, warned those responsible that they would be caught soon and that the Indian Navy needs to keep improving its skills to protect maritime trade and the country’s interests.
There is more naval patrolling in the area. Even if they are deep in the ocean, we will find and catch the attackers. MV Chem Pluto and MV Saibaba were attacked last week in the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea, respectively. “They will face harsh punishment,” he said.
Crews from India were on both ships.
Singh said, “The turbulence at sea has increased a bit” while pointing out India’s newest stealth destroyer, INS Imphal, at the Naval Dockyard. There is anger and hatred in some places because India’s economic and military power is growing. Recent drone strikes have been taken very seriously by the government.
On December 23, attacks happened on the MV Chem Pluto, which had a flag from Liberia, and the MV Saibaba, which had a flag from Gabon.
A wave of drone and missile attacks against commercial ships by Houthi rebels backed by Iran has made things worse in the Red Sea, and it looks like the trouble is spreading to the Arabian Sea as well. Two hundred and seventeen nautical miles off the west coast of India, someone attacked the MV Chem Pluto, which had 22 people on board, including 21 Indians and one Vietnamese.
“In the Indian Ocean region, India is in charge of internet security.” The maritime trade in this area will hit new heights thanks to our work. So, we will keep the sea lanes safe with the help of our friendly countries. I’m sure our navy is strong and capable, he said.
A coast guard patrol boat called Vikram escorted the Liberian-flagged MV Chem Pluto to Mumbai on Monday. The navy’s experts in destroying explosives revealed that there had been a drone attack. Ever since the war between Israel and Hamas started on October 7, the Houthis, who are backed by Iran, have been going after commercial ships in the Red Sea. Hamas was backed by the Houthi rebels.
Adm. R. Hari Kumar, the head of the navy, said that four destroyers had been sent to the area to protect against piracy and drone attacks on commercial ships. The effort to protect the area included Dornier planes, P-8I marine surveillance planes, Sea Guardian drones, helicopters, and coast guard ships, he said.
Not only will INS Imphal deal with physical dangers that come from or go through the seas, but she will also show that an integrated Bharat is strong, which will stop bad plans to break up our country. Kumar said, “She will spit fire on the enemy and show unwavering determination in the face of trouble.”
According to the US Department of Defense, on December 24, an Iranian drone hit the MV Chem Pluto in the Arabian Sea. On the next day, though, Iran denied the US report.
When the MV Saibaba, which had a crew of 25 Indians, was attacked by a drone in the southern Red Sea, MV Chem Pluto was hit at the same time. The crew however was not hurt. Two cargo ships were attacked by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea on December 23, according to the US Central Command. One of them was the MV Saibaba. The last place that they knew the ship was was in the Red Sea.
At the same time that the Indian Navy and coast guard reacted to MV Saibaba’s distress call, they sent ships to help MV Chem Pluto, which was transporting chemicals from Jubail, Saudi Arabia, to New Mangalore. Along with the coast guard’s patrol boat Vikram, the navy sent the stealth destroyer INS Mormugao to the site of MV Chem Pluto, where its power generation system was hit and shut down.
Within minutes of hearing about the emergency from the UKMTO, which is the main contact point for merchant ships and the military in the area, both the navy and the coast guard sent out their maritime surveillance planes, a P-8I and a Dornier.
Another worrying change is that hacking is on the rise again in the area.
On December 14, unknown attackers took over the Maltese-flagged MV Ruen in the Arabian Sea, and INS Kochi caught it. Until it got into Somalian waters, the Indian warship followed the seized ship. For medical help on December 18, one of the 18 sailors on the MV Ruen was moved to the Indian stealth warship.
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