Why Iranian attack on MV Chem Pluto is a threat to global maritime security

New Delhi: The Iranian Kamikaze drone attack on Mangalore bound MV Chem Pluto took place 210 nautical miles off Dwarka with the Iranian coast 500 nautical miles to the north-west and the Yemen coast 860 nautical miles off the incident site on December 23.

While the Pentagon has said that this is the seventh Iranian attack on commercial shipping since 2021, the attack has ominous portents for maritime security in the Arabian Sea area as Tehran is even firing at vessels that at least have no overt connections to the targeted ship. MV Chem Pluto is a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned and Netherlands-operated tanker with largely Indian crew and it was way out of the currently contested Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region.

Although Iran has missile firing Shahed drone with a range of 1350 nautical miles, it is also important to investigate the role of Iranian Dhow MV Saviz, which was 47 nautical miles off the attacked vessel, and bulk carrier MV Artenos, 230 nautical miles of MV Chem Pluto, in case the two vessels were involved in any way in identifying or targeting of the Mangalore bound chemical tanker.

According to the Pentagon, the Iranians fired a one-way expendable drone at the India-bound vessel, which led to a fire on the ship, power failure and a total blackout. The Indian Navy launched a P8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft immediately after receipt of May Day signal and then the Indian Coast Guard vessel provided assistance on high seas.

Although the fire on MV Chem Pluto is under control and the distressed vessel is being provided assistance by Indian Navy and Coast Guard, Iran and its proxies, the Houthi militia in Yemen, have caused havoc to maritime security in the region by targeting commercial shipping from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden to Persian Gulf and all the way off the coast of India. The Iranian provocative attacks against commercial shipping are deliberately being done to force the US-led West to ask Israel to cease its war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

The maverick role played by Iran through its terror proxies in the Middle-East with scant regard to international law shows the vulnerability of the Indo-Pacific as Tehran is targeting global maritime security with impunity. This will raise the cost of commercial shipping through the Red Sea as the majority of vessels will take the Cape of Good Hope route to reach the West but will have little repercussions for a pariah state like Iran.

Not only Iran is coercing the region with its lethal tactics, it is also seriously hurting the economic interests of Sunni states like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and UAE by creating serious instability in the region. The attack on MV Chem Pluto shows the extent to which Iran can go to bully the entire Middle-East region over its death wish for Israel.