Indian Coast Guard helicopter makes emergency sea landing; 3 crew members missing
The aircraft wreckage has been located and the ICG has pressed four ships, and two aircraft for the search operation.
A merchant vessel, MV Chem Pluto, carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia was Saturday hit by a drone strike in the Arabian Sea. The vessel was at 217 nautical miles off Porbandar coast when it was attacked.
There were 20 Indian crew members onboard the vessel, who are reportedly safe.
After the attack, the vessel caught fire which was later extinguished. However, the attack compromised its functionality.
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The Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard vessels are moving towards the merchant vessel, ANI quoted defence officials as saying.
The Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS Vikram, deployed on patrol of the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone, acted swiftly and head course towards MV Chem Pluto in distress.
The Indian Navy has also ordered its warships in the vicinity to move towards the distressed vessel.
According to defence officials, the vessel has crude oil and was going towards Mangalore from a port in Saudi Arabia.
As of now, it is not known who is behind the attack. No group has taken responsibility of the incident.
The incident comes days after Indian Navy responded to a hijacking call from Malta-flagged Vessel MV Ruen and diverted its maritime patrol aircraft and warship in the Arabian Sea.
According to reports, six Somali Pirates had taken hold of the vessel and fired at the crew. Indian Navy warship INS Kochi helped rescue a crew member who was shot at by the pirates.
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