Indian Coast Guard expands operations in Arabian Sea after drone attack on ship

Following the drone attack on a merchant vessel in the Arabian Sea on Saturday, the Indian Coast Guard has boosted the number of its offshore patrol vessels and the percentage of Dornier aircraft missions over the Arabian Sea along the Exclusive Economic Zone. First to arrive on the scene after the MV Chem Pluto was struck by a drone attack 217 miles off the coast of India, causing extensive damage to numerous components of the ship, was the Indian Coast Guard ship ICGS Vikram. “We have increased the presence of our Offshore Patrol Vessels as four of them equipped with ALH Dhruv helicopters are sweeping our EEZ to check any suspicious activity against Indian or any other nationality merchant ship,” Indian Coast Guard officials told ANI. In order to protect and instill trust in the commerce vessels operating in the area, the Indian Coast Guard has also increased the number of maritime surveillance aircraft sorties in the EEZ sweep. The crew of ICGS Vikram was the first to board the commercial ship MV Chem Pluto after the drone strike occurred in order to evaluate the damage and witness the devastation the attack had created. (With agency inputs)