Drone hits Gabon-flagged tanker with 25 Indians

Hours after an India-bound tanker with 21 Indians on board caught fire off the Gujarat coast after a suspected unmanned aerial vehicle attack, another crude carrier, MV Sai Baba, with 25 Indian crew members came under a drone attack in the Southern Red Sea on Saturday, the US military said on Sunday. However, no one was injured.
The US Central Command (Centcom) said it shot down four drones, launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, that were headed towards a US destroyer in the Southern Red Sea on Saturday.It also said that two ships, including MV Sai Baba, were targeted by another set of drones. Though Centcom described the vessel, which was reportedly on its way to India, as an Indian-flagged tanker, the ship is reportedly a Gabon-flagged crude carrier.

“At approximately 8 pm (Sanaa time), US Naval Forces Central Command received distress reports from two ships in the Southern Red Sea indicating that they were under attack. The MV Blaamanen, a Norwegian-flagged, owned, and operated chemical/oil tanker, reported a near miss of a Houthi one-way attack drone with no injuries or damage reported. A second vessel, the MV Sai Baba, a Gabon-owned, Indian-flagged crude oil tanker, reported that it was hit by a one-way attack drone with no injuries reported. The USS Laboon (a US destroyer) responded to the distress calls from these attacks,” Centcom said in its post.
The incident marks the 14th and 15th attacks on commercial shipping vessels by Houthi militants since October 17, Centcom said in its statement.
Hours before this attack, MV Chem Pluto with “22 crew (21 Indians and one Vietnamese) was reported on fire after being hit by a projectile at around 7.45 hr on Dec 23 (Saturday), likely to be a missile or drone”, an Indian Navy statement said on Sunday. “Responding swiftly to the developing situation, the Indian Navy diverted a maritime patrol aircraft operating in the area undertaking routine surveillance. Indian Navy also diverted Indian naval ship Mormugao (guided-missile destroyer) to assess the situation and provide assistance to MT Chem Pluto,” it said. The Mangalore-bound MV Chem Pluto, being escorted by Coast Guard ship ICGS Vikram, has now been re-routed to Mumbai as it is facing a steering issue after the attack.

“Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialists will be embarking MV Chem Pluto on arrival at Mumbai to sanitise the vessel and undertake further investigation. Indian Navy continues to monitor the situation very closely with all stakeholders and remains committed to ensuring safety of merchant shipping in the region,” the Navy stated.
The Indian Navy has, meanwhile, opened an investigation into whether the drone used to attack the merchant ship was launched from long-range (missile) or a nearby vessel. A Pentagon spokesperson as quoted by foreign news agencies, however, claimed, “The motor vessel Chem Pluto, a Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker, was struck…by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran.”

Reacting to the recent ship attacks, Captain DK Sharma (retired), former Navy spokesperson, posted on X, “It is a problem…, and I am sure that all the agencies are on to it. The surveillance will be intensified, more assets will be put and IFC-IOR (Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean region) will take action now; lots of coordination, maybe scanning of ships when they start entering the SEZ (Special Economic Zone) of a particular country.”
Last month, an Israeli-owned cargo ship was hit in a suspected drone attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Indian Ocean, according to a US official. The fresh attacks came against the backdrop of Iran-backed Houthi rebels stepping up attacks on ships in the Red Sea amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.