Drone fired from Iran hits a Japanese tanker in the Indian Ocean, US says

New Delhi: According to the US military, a drone fired from Iran has hit a Japanese-owned chemical tanker located around 370 kilometres from the Indian coast off Gujarat, the BBC reported on December 24. Though the hit caused structural damage, no casualties have been reported and a fire aboard the tanker was put out. The Indian navy has sent an aircraft and warships for assistance, per the report.

BBC reported that in a statement, the Pentagon said that the tanker – named “Chem Pluto”, donning a Liberian flag and operated by the Netherlands – was hit by “a one-way attack drone fired from Iran”. The AFP reported that per the statement, the US military is in communication with the vessel “as it continues toward a destination in India” from Saudi Arabia.

The incident occurred on December 23 (06:00 GMT), per the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which provides information on maritime security in the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. The UKMTO reported that it received news of an attack “approximately 200 NM [nautical miles] South West of Veraval, India”, and that “authorities are investigating”. 

The attack comes at a time when drone and missile strikes by Houthi rebels – an Iran-backed group which controls a large part of Yemen – have been on the rise in the Red Sea, which is an important shipping route. According to  BBC, the attacks began after the Israel-Hamas war, with the Houthis declaring their support for Hamas. Their means of showing this support has been by attacking cargo and commercial vessels bound for, or linked to, Israel.

As a result, many shipping companies have stopped going via the Red Sea, choosing to reroute their vessels south of Africa despite the longer route and higher fuel costs. The US, along with more than 20 countries, has set up a multinational naval task force to protect ship movements in the Red Sea.

According to the AFP, it is the first time that the US has openly accused Iran, which is known to support Hamas, of directly targeting ships since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Per BBC, Iran has not commented on the drone attack on the vessel yet.

Last month Israel had alleged that Yemen’s Houthi rebels were responsible for the hijacking of an Israeli-linked cargo ship headed from Turkey to India via the Red Sea. The hijacked vessel had been in Korfez, Turkey, and was on its way to Pipavav, India, at the time of the seizure reported by Israel.

Wire