The Indian Navy has confirmed the deployment of its guided missile destroyer, INS Visakhapatnam, to the Gulf of Aden in response to a distress signal received from an oil tanker on the evening of January 26.
In a statement issued, the Navy elaborated that its intervention extends to supporting firefighting efforts onboard the troubled Merchant Vessel (MV), Marlin Luanda, with the assistance of the Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense (NBCD) team along with firefighting equipment dispatched from INS Visakhapatnam to aid the vessel's crew.
It has been verified by the Navy that among the crew onboard the targeted vessel, 22 individuals are of Indian nationality, with one hailing from Bangladesh. The ship in question was the operational responsibility of the trading firm Trafigura, which affirmed that the Marlin Luanda sustained a missile strike while traversing the Red Sea.
This incident, alongside the assault on the British oil tanker, has been underscored as one of the most significant maritime confrontations involving Western forces and the Middle East in recent memory.
Furthermore, this occurrence marks a distressing trend of assaults on oil tankers carrying Indian nationals, echoing a similar attack on December 24, 2023, when an oil tanker, ferrying 25 Indian crew members, fell victim to a drone strike orchestrated by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
The Houthi group has attributed their actions to Israel's military operations in Palestine, rationalizing their targeting of oil tankers since November of the previous year.
Following the assault in the Gulf of Aden, the UK government issued a statement asserting its readiness, alongside allies, to respond proportionately to such attacks on commercial shipping.
"We are cognizant of reports concerning the M/V Marlin Luanda, a tanker flying the Marshall Islands flag, encountering damage from an attack in the Gulf of Aden. Initial reports suggest no casualties, and coalition vessels are present at the scene. Our stance remains unequivocal that any assaults on commercial shipping are utterly unacceptable, and the UK, together with our partners, maintains the prerogative to respond accordingly," articulated a UK government spokesperson.
While a Houthi military representative acknowledged their naval operation targeting the oil tanker, identifying it as 'British,' no official acknowledgment has been made regarding the attack on the USS Carney.
