The Indian Coast Guard has said that its Maritime Coordination Centre (MRCC) established “real-time communication” with MV Chem Pluto, a Liberia-flagged chemical tanker which was hit by a drone some 200 nautical miles off Indian coast in the Arabian Sea on Saturday.
According to a Coast Guard statement released just before midnight, the merchant ship had 20 Indian and one Vietnamese crew, who doused the fire caused by drone strike.
The vessel was carrying a consignment from Saudi Arabia and was bound for the Indian port of New Mangalore. It was scheduled to reach the Indian port on 25 December, the Coast Guard said.
The statement also revealed that an an offshore patrol vessel and a Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft was dispatched to assist the distressed vessel.
“The Coast Guard's Dornier aircraft has sanitised area and established communication with Chem Pluto,” the statement added.
Further, the Indian agency stated that it also diverted other merchant vessels in the vicinity of Chem Pluto to render assistance to the drone-hit ship.
The Coast Guard stated that the vessel was being escorted to the Mumbai port where it would go a “damage assessment” and repair on its “power-generation system”. The ship is also facing some steering issues, it said.
“The Indian Coast Guard Operations Centre is monitoring the situation closely,” it said.