A drone struck a commercial ship in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, causing damage but no injuries, two shipping agencies said, with one saying the ship was linked to Israel. The attack off the Indian coast, which was not immediately claimed, caused a fire on board which was later put out, according to the British maritime safety agency UKMTO. The British company Ambrey, for its part, indicated that “the Liberian-flagged tanker was affiliated with Israel” and that it was heading from Saudi Arabia to India.
Both agencies said the attack occurred 200 nautical miles southwest of Veraval, India. The Indian Navy said it responded to a request for assistance. “A plane was dispatched to the site and was able to reach the ship and establish the safety of the ship and its crew,” an Indian navy official told AFP. “An Indian Navy warship has also been dispatched to the spot to provide necessary assistance,” he added.
A strike which comes against a backdrop of tensions in the Red Sea
While responsibility for this strike was not immediately established, it follows a series of drone and missile attacks carried out in recent weeks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, on a vital shipping lane in the Red Sea, against the backdrop of war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist movement in the Gaza Strip. Iran has also been accused by the United States of carrying out attacks near its waters. Last month, an Israeli cargo ship was damaged during a suspected drone attack carried out by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Indian Ocean, according to a US official.
“As the crimes continue, America and its allies must expect the emergence of new powers of resistance and the closure of other waterways,” said Mohammad Reza Naqdi, deputy coordinator of the (IRGC), quoted by the Iranian Tasnim news agency. “They will soon have to expect the Mediterranean Sea, Gibraltar and other waterways to be closed against them,” he warned.
Reoriented ships
Attacks on shipping since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7 have prompted major shipping companies to redirect their ships to the southern tip of Africa, despite higher fuel costs for far-flung voyages. longer. The Houthi rebels, who control swaths of Yemeni territory including the capital Sanaa, have launched more than 100 drone and missile attacks, targeting 10 merchant ships involving more than 35 different countries, according to the Pentagon. The Houthis repeat that they will continue their attacks as long as sufficient food and medicine do not return to the besieged Gaza Strip.