India moves in
The Indian Navy has deployed the destroyers Kolkata, Cochin, Mormugan and Chennai to the Red Sea exit, south of the Yemeni island of Socotra, and west and central Arabian Sea respectively. The USS Visakhapatnam was also assigned to patrol the northern Arabian Sea.
The five destroyers will be refueled by a 25,000-ton civilian tanker. The tanker has a larger capacity than the Indian Navy’s tankers.
The Hindustan Times said P-8 anti-submarine patrol aircraft and Sea Guardian drones are constantly monitoring ships in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden in search of suspicious vessels trying to carry out strikes on commercial shipping.
In addition, the Indian Coast Guard will also send patrol vessels and Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft to patrol the Exclusive Economic zone in the western waters of India to ensure that there are no suspicious activities along the Indian coastline and in the Arabian Sea.
Missile attacks on merchant ships in the Arabian Sea threaten a trillion-dollar trade in commerce and oil. Shortly before that (23), a chemical tanker operating in the Indian Ocean was attacked by a suicide drone, and the Indian Navy dispatched assistance. At the time, CNN said the attack could mark a new escalation in tensions.