Blog

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the attack was by an Uncrewed Aerial System.

A drone strike caused an explosion and fire on a merchant ship in the Indian Ocean on Saturday but no casualties were reported, a maritime agency said. Another maritime agency has also said that the Liberia-flagged tanker was Israel-affiliated, news agency AFP reported.

The unclaimed attack off the coast of India caused a fire on board, according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations and maritime security firm Ambrey, which said the “Liberia-flagged chemical/products tanker… was Israel-affiliated”. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the attack was by an Uncrewed Aerial System, and authorities are investigating it.

The incident comes days after the Indian Navy helped in the evacuation of an injured sailor from a hijacked Malta-flagged cargo vessel on Monday. It had been reported that six “pirates” had illegally boarded the ship, the MV Ruen, in the Arabian Sea.