Drone Attack on Tanker in Indian Ocean Was Launched From Iran: Pentagon

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Sunday December 24, 2023

Saturday's drone attack on a tanker in the Indian Ocean was launched from Iran, according to the US Department of Defense.

As Ship & Bunker reported on Saturday, the 21,300 DWT tanker Chem Pluto was hit by a drone about 200 nautical miles south-west of Veraval in India, causing an explosion and fire.

A spate of attacks on commercial shipping has been launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen in recent weeks, but Saturday's incident was a significant distance away from Yemen, further away than the Houthi drones' operational range can reach.

"The motor vessel CHEM PLUTO, a Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker was struck at approximately 10 a.m. local time (6 a.m. GMT) today in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles from the coast of India, by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran," news agency Reuters cited a Pentagon representative as saying.

While Iran backs the Houthi movement -- and the US claims its intelligence has been crucial in launching the attacks from Yemen -- it has not previously had direct involvement in the recent attacks since the outbreak of war in Gaza.

Direct Iranian involvement in the attacks is likely to considerably raise the threat level for ships operating across the Middle East.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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