NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy’s preliminary assessment of the Merchant Vessel Chem Pluto on Monday has pointed “towards a drone attack.” “The analysis of the area of attack and debris found on the ship point to a drone attack. However, further forensic and technical analysis will be required to establish the vector of attack, including type and amount of explosive used,”
The Indian Navy said in a statement. MV Chem Pluto, a merchant ship, arrived at the Mumbai port on Monday under the protection of Indian Coast Guard ship ICGS Vikram. The vessel is a Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker. It was struck in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles from the coast of India on December 23.
The Navy said a joint investigation by various agencies has commenced on completion of the analysis by the Navy’s ordnance team. On her arrival, the Navy’s ordnance disposal team inspected the vessel to make a preliminary assessment. The merchant vessel, which was transporting crude oil from Saudi Arabia to Mangalore, was over 200 nautical miles southwest of Veraval in the Arabian Sea when it was hit by a drone.
MV Chem Pluto has been cleared for further operation by her company-in-charge at Mumbai, the Navy said. The ship is scheduled to undergo mandatory checks by various inspecting authorities before undertaking Ship to Ship (STS) transfer of cargo.
This is likely to be followed by docking and repairs of the damaged portion of MV Chem Pluto. Following incidents of hijack/drone attacks, the Navy has enhanced its deterrence presence, pressing warships into operational deployment.
Naval deterrence
Indian Navy says it has deployed guided missile destroyers, INS Mormugao, INS Kochi and INS Kolkata to maintain a deterrent presence. Besides long-range maritime reconnaissance P8I aircraft are being regularly tasked to maintain domain awareness