DUBAI: A drone strike damaged a merchant ship off the coast of India on Saturday, but caused no casualties, two maritime agencies said, with one reporting the vessel was linked to Israel.

The attack caused a fire on board, according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, or UKMTO.

Ambrey, a maritime security firm, said the “Liberia-flagged tanker... was Israel-affiliated” and had been on its way from Saudi Arabia to India.

Both agencies said the attack occurred 200 nautical miles southwest of Veraval, India.

The UKMTO said the “authorities were investigating”, and noted the fire had been extinguished. Ambrey said the Indian navy was responding.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strike which came amid a flurry of drone and missile attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a vital shipping lane in the Red Sea.

Attacks on shipping since the start of the Gaza crisis have prompted major firms to reroute their cargo vessels around the southern tip of Africa, despite the higher fuel costs of much longer voyages.

The Houthi rebels have launched more than 100 drone and missile attacks, targeting 10 merchant vessels involving more than 35 different countries, according to the Pentagon.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2023