Amid a series of attacks on service provider vessels, the Indian Navy chief, on Sunday, directed officers to boost safety within the sea route, particularly the Arabian Sea and requested the forces to maintain a close lookout for any suspicious exercise within the area.
According to the information company ANI, Indian Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar has requested to maintain a close lookout for any suspicious exercise within the area, which has seen incidents of attacks on service provider vessels lately, particularly following the Israel-Hamas battle.
“The piracy incident on MV Ruen approximately 700 nautical miles from the Indian coast and recent drone attack on MV Chem Pluto, approximately 220 nautical miles South-West of Porbandar indicates a shift in maritime incidents closer to Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),” a Navy official stated.Â
“Task Groups comprising destroyers and frigates have been deployed to undertake maritime security operations and render assistance to merchant vessels in case of any incident. Aerial surveillance by long-range maritime patrol aircraft and RPAs has been enhanced to have complete maritime domain awareness. Towards effective surveillance of EEZ, the Indian Navy is operating in close coordination with the Indian Coast Guard,” he added.
“The overall situation is being closely monitored by the Indian Navy in coordination with national maritime agencies. The Indian Navy remains committed to ensuring the safety of merchant shipping in the region,” he stated additional.Â
Drone attacks on vessel
Notably, the most recent growth got here practically a week after MV Chem Pluto, a Liberian flag chemical, carrying 21 Indians and one Vietnamese crew member, suffered a critical “drone attack” on December 23. However, the vessel was later escorted by Indian Coast Guard Ship Vikram to the Mumbai coast.
The Indian Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal workforce inspected the vessel to make a preliminary evaluation of the kind and nature of the assault. The evaluation of the realm of assault and particles discovered on the ship hinted in direction of a drone assault however additional forensic and technical evaluation will probably be required to determine the vector of assault, together with sort and quantity of explosive used. ” There have been additionally experiences of attacks on business vessels within the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
