Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that the government has taken serious cognisance of the recent attacks on the merchant navy ships including MV Chem Pluto and MV Sai Baba and asserted to take strict action against those responsible behind the attacks even by finding them from ‘depth of seas’. 

"The Indian government has taken the drone attack on MV Chem Pluto and attack on MV Saibaba in the Red Sea seriously. We will find those who executed the recent attacks on merchant navy ships even from the depths of the seas and take strict action against them," Singh said. 

The defence minister also stated that the Indian Navy has increased surveillance in the sea. His remarks came after the merchant vessel MV Chem Pluto, which had 21 Indian crew members on board, was struck by a drone about 217 nautical miles from Porbandar on Saturday. Following the attack, the Indian Coast Guard deployed several assets to assist the ship.

While a Gabon-flagged commercial crude oil tanker carrying 25 Indian crew members reportedly came under attack in the northern Red Sea. The ship, carrying crude oil, was targeted close to the Indian coast while it was heading towards Mangaluru from a Saudi Arabian port. Later, Indian officials clarified that the commercial oil tanker was not an Indian-flagged vessel.

In response to a series of attacks on commercial vehicles in the Arabian Sea, the Navy on Monday deployed P-8I long-range patrol aircraft for surveillance and the warships INS Mormugao, INS Kochi, and INS Kolkata to the area to maintain a "deterrent presence". 

Earlier on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry dismissed US claims that a drone launched from Iran had targeted a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean. Rejecting the allegations, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani stated that “these repetitive accusations are rejected as baseless.” The spokesperson also added that the US should face accusations for its role in Israel’s war in Gaza.