U.S. Says Iran Drone Struck an Oil Tanker Near India
Attack in the Indian Ocean signals an expanding risk to shipping after Yemeni rebels’ attacks in the Red Sea
WSJ
A chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean was struck by a drone launched directly from Iran early Saturday, the Pentagon said, signaling a widening risk to shipping after Yemeni rebels started attacking vessels in the Red Sea.
“The motor vessel Chem Pluto, a Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker was struck at approximately 10 a.m. local time today in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles from the coast of India, by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran,” a Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement.
While Iran has struck tankers in the past, it is the first time the U.S. alleged Tehran had directly targeted ships since regional tensions flared up again after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israeli citizens.
The vessel is owned by Japan’s Rio Brillante and managed by the Netherlands’ Ace-Quantum Chemical Tankers, which is connected to Israeli shipping tycoon Idan Ofer. Rio, Ace-Quantum and a spokesman for Ofer didn’t respond to requests for comment.
There were no casualties and a fire onboard the tanker was extinguished, the Pentagon said, adding that no U.S. Navy vessels were in the vicinity and that the U.S. is in communication with the vessel as it continues toward a destination in India.
Asked about suspicions Iran was involved in the attack, a spokesman for the Iranian delegation at the United Nations declined to comment immediately.
The Houthis, an Iranian ally in Yemen, started attacking commercial vessels passing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and by extension the Indian Ocean, in response to an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza.
The Chem Pluto, which was loaded with refined products, was sailing from Jubail in Saudi Arabia to Mangalore in India when it was struck 200 nautical miles southwest of Veraval, India, U.K.-based maritime artificial-intelligence company Windward said.
The attack also prompted an Indian Navy ship to head toward the vessel to provide assistance, said Christopher Long, intelligence director at Neptune P2P. The Indian Navy didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Long said the attack took place 1,530 miles from Yemen, within reach of the Shahed 136, an Iranian attack drone used by the Houthis that can fly up to 1,600 miles. Whoever was behind it, “this incident is a game changer due to how far from land that it happened,” said Long, a former British Navy officer in the Persian Gulf.
A Houthi spokesman neither denied nor confirmed involvement. “We take pride in what we do and officially declare it,” he said, adding that the Houthis are keen on causing any possible harm to Israel until it allows more food and medicine into Gaza and ceases aggression.
Iran’s paramilitary forces are providing real-time intelligence and weaponry, including drones and missiles, to Yemen’s Houthis that the rebels are using to target ships passing through the Red Sea, Western and regional security officials have previously said.
Iran has previously said it wasn’t involved, but its security officials have been making threats to attack shipping routes
On Saturday, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander said the Mediterranean Sea could shut for trade if the Israeli offensive in Gaza didn’t stop. “They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, Gibraltar and other waterways,” the conservative Tasnim news agency quoted Brigadier Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi as saying.
The attacks have increased shipping costs and forced companies such as BP and Equinor to divert their voyages away from the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, handling roughly 12% of global seaborne trade annually. At least 33 container vessels were diverted away from the Red Sea in the past week and now have to travel through Southern Africa, delaying deliveries by 60 days from Asia to Western Europe, said Windward Chief Executive Ami Daniel. Meanwhile, freight prices from China to the Mediterranean are now up 61%, he said.
In response to the mounting risk, the Pentagon last week unveiled plans for a multinational naval force to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, many of the world’s biggest shipping lines, oil producers and other cargo owners have started diverting vessels from the region, prompting a rise in oil prices and insurance rates.
Daniel said the attack in the Indian Ocean raised the question of whether the “coalition [can] really defend an area seven times bigger than Europe.”
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