Indian Navy intensifies presence in the Arabian Sea

Indian Navy has deployed guided missile destroyers, INS Mormugao, INS Kochi and INS Kolkata, in various areas of Arabian Sea to maintain a deterrent presence, considering the spate of attacks on ships by Houthi rebels a naval official was quoted by media reports.

The Navy sent P-8I long-range patrol aircraft for observation and the warships INS Mormugao, INS Kochi, and INS Kolkata to the area to maintain a "deterrent presence" in response to a wave of attacks on commercial boats in the Arabian Sea, according to authorities

Navy's explosive ordnance disposal team has carried out a detailed inspection of merchant vessel MV Chem Pluto on its arrival at Mumbai harbor. It comes two days after the ship was hit by a drone off India's west coast in the Arabian Sea when it was on its way to New Mangalore port.

About 217 nautical miles from Porbandar, on Saturday, 23 Decthe MV Chem Pluto, which was transporting crude oil from Al Jubail port in Saudi Arabia to New Mangalore port, was hit. The incident resulted in no injuries. A Gabon-flagged commercial crude oil tanker with 25 Indian crew members also came under a drone attack in the Southern Red Sea on Saturday but no one was injured, according to Indian officials and the US military

The analysis of the attack area and debris found on the ship points towards a drone attack," according to a Navy spokesperson.

The drone strike on the Liberian-flagged MV ChemPluto  coincided with growing fears that Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, were targeting other commercial boats in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden as a result of the Israel-Hamas war.

But further forensic and technological investigation will be needed to determine the assault vector, including the kind and quantity of explosive employed. The Indian Navy spokesperson said a joint investigation by various agencies commenced following completion of the analysis of the vessel by the explosive ordnance team.