Drone attack on a ship carrying 20 Indians off coast of Gujarat, coast guard forces are being sent

A drone attack on a merchant ship in the Arabian Sea off the Indian coast caused an explosion and fire. However, there is no news of any casualty in this incident. According to news agency ANI, the ship's crew includes 20 Indians. An Indian Coast Guard merchant ship MV Chem is heading towards Pluto. It is 217 nautical miles away from Porbandar coast.

This ship carrying crude oil had left from a port in Saudi Arabia and was heading towards Mangaluru. Defense officials said that the Coast Guard ship ICGS Vikram, which was patrolling the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone, was instructed to move towards the merchant ship in distress. The coast guard vessel has alerted all ships in the area to assist.

According to ANI report, the fire on the ship has been extinguished but it has affected the functioning of the ship. All crew members are safe.

It is noteworthy that on Monday, the Indian Navy had helped in evacuating an injured sailor from the hijacked Malta-flagged cargo ship. This incident happened a few days after this. It was reported that six "pirates" had illegally boarded the ship MV Rouen in the Arabian Sea.

Maritime security has become a huge problem especially after the Israel-Hamas conflict as the Houthi militants in Yemen have started targeting merchant ships in the Red Sea. Many shipping companies have diverted their ships to different routes and as a result the cost has also increased.

The USA has formed a group with some other nations to provide military support to the merchant ships and counter the Houthi militants. The militants have said that they are attacking the ships in support of Hamas. Many ships have come under attack from them.