A guided missile destroyer of the Indian Navy intercepted a cargo vessel with 22 crew members, including nine Indians, after the Marshall Island-flagged ship came under a drone strike in the Gulf of Aden late on Wednesday night.

The incident comes amid a spate of attacks by Yemen-based Houthi militants on merchant vessels in the Red Sea against the background of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

No casualties were reported from the drone strike on MV Genco Picardy around 60 nautical miles south of Port Aden, and the fire on the vessel has been contained, the navy said.

“INS Visakhapatnam, mission deployed in Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy operations, swiftly responded to a distress call by Marshall Island flagged MV Genco Picardy following a drone attack at 2311 hrs on 17 Jan,” the navy said.

“INS Visakhapatnam, undertaking anti-piracy patrol in Gulf of Aden, acknowledged the distress call and intercepted the vessels at 0030 hrs on 18 Jan in order to provide assistance. MV Genco Picardy with 22 crew (09 Indian) reported nil casualties and fire under control.”

Specialists of the navy’s explosive ordnance disposal unit from INS Visakhapatnam boarded the vessel in the early hours of Thursday to inspect the damaged area. They later declared the area safe for further transit.

“The vessel is proceeding to the next port of call,” the navy said.

On January 5, the navy’s maritime commandos (MARCOs) had rescued 21 crew members, including 15 Indians, on board a merchant vessel, MV Lila Norfolk, after six to eight armed pirates tried to hijack it in the Arabian Sea off the Somalia coast.

The navy had deployed a warship, maritime patrol aircraft P-81, and long-range Predator MQ9B drones in the operation.

Houthi rebels have in the past few months launched a series of attacks on merchant ships — including two Indian-crewed vessels headed for India that were targeted last month — in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.

On December 23, a drone attack was reported on the chemical tanker MV Chem Pluto, which had 21 Indian crew members, approximately 220 nautical miles southwest of Porbandar.

The India-bound chemical tanker was reportedly on its way from Saudi Arabia’s Jubail port to New Mangalore when it was hit by an unmanned aerial vehicle, triggering a massive fire on board. No injury was reported.

The following day, another commercial oil tanker, with 25 Indian crew members, experienced a suspected drone attack in the southern Red Sea. No casualties were reported.

India has now deployed over 10 warships with marine commandos in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden to deter piracy and drone strikes, and is conducting enhanced maritime security operations.

These naval vessels are carrying out regular surveillance missions using P-81 aircraft and drones. The deployed warships include the INS Kolkata, INS Kochi, INS Chennai, INS Mormugao, INS Talwar and INS Tarkas.