On Sunday, officials reported that INS Mormugao, an Indian Navy warship, had reached MV Chem Pluto, a merchant vessel bound for India, which was allegedly attacked by an Iranian drone. The purpose of the warship’s arrival was to gather details about the attack. The Indian Navy has initiated an investigation to determine whether the drone was launched from a long range or from a nearby vessel. ANI was informed by an official that the vessels operating in the area where the attack occurred are currently being inspected. According to a spokesperson from the Pentagon, the Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker, MV Chem Pluto, was struck by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran at approximately 10 am local time today in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles away from the Indian coast. The Indian Coast Guard ship Vikram is escorting MV Chem Pluto and both are expected to reach the Mumbai coast on Monday. The Indian Coast Guard confirmed that ICGS Vikram had reached the distressed ship the previous evening and both are currently in Indian waters. This incident adds to the growing regional tensions following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7. The Pentagon stated that this was the seventh Iranian attack on commercial shipping since 2021. MV Chem Pluto, carrying 20 Indian and one Vietnamese crew member, caught fire on Saturday after being attacked by a suspected drone. It was later secured by the Indian Coast Guard, as stated in their official statement. The merchant vessel began its journey from the UAE on December 19 and was scheduled to arrive at New Mangalore port on December 25. On December 23, the Indian Coast Guard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Mumbai received information about a fire onboard MV Chem Pluto, believed to be caused by a suspected drone strike or aerial platform.