Coastguards and Navy strengthen their deployment in Arabian sea

The Coast Guard has deployed four offshore patrol vessels equipped with advanced helicopters to carry out extended surveillance operations along the Indian maritime boundary in the Arabian Sea.

Indian Navy has deployed three warships in the Arabian Sea . The Navy deployed P-8I long-range patrol aircraft for surveillance, and warships INS Mormugao, INS Kochi, and INS Kolkata in the region to maintain a "deterrent presence".

The deployment follows a recent attack on the commercial ship MV Chem Pluto in the Arabian Sea on Saturday 23 Dec.

The Coast Guard patrol vessels are sweeping the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Arabian Sea where the attack took place and are keeping a check on any suspicious activity there, defense officials said. The sorties by the Coast Guard 's Dornier Maritime Surveillance Aircraft have also increased by more than 50 per cent to monitor the area and provide immediate assistance in case of any requirement, officials said.

The chemical tanker MV Chem Pluto was struck by a drone off India's west coast on Saturday, amid increasing concerns over various commercial vessels being targeted by Iran-backed Houthi militants in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. But the origin of the strike on MV Chem Pluto and the amount of explosive used are yet to be identified. However, a Pentagon spokesperson said that the vessel was hit by "a one-way attack drone fired from Iran".

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has vowed to ferret out the perpetrators of the attacks, even from the "depths of the seas".