The Indian Navy’s explosive ordnance disposal team on Monday carried out a detailed inspection of merchant vessel MV Chem Pluto on its arrival at Mumbai harbour, two days after the ship was hit by a drone off India’s west coast in the Arabian Sea when it was on its way to New Mangalore port.

In view of spate of attacks on commercial vessels in the Arabian Sea, the Navy deployed P-8I long-range patrol aircraft for surveillance, and warships INS Mormugao, INS Kochi and INS Kolkata in the region to maintain “deterrent presence”, officials said.

Saturday’s drone attack on Liberian-flagged MV Chem Pluto came amid increasing concerns over various commercial vessels being targeted reportedly by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The Liberian-flagged vessel with 21 Indian and one Vietnamese crew, anchored at outer anchorage off Mumbai at 3:30 pm.

“On her arrival, the Indian Navy explosive ordnance disposal team inspected the vessel to make a preliminary assessment of the type and nature of attack. The analysis of the area of attack and debris found on the ship points towards a drone attack,” a Navy spokesperson said.

“However, further forensic and technical analysis will be required to establish the vector of attack including type and amount of explosive used,” he said.

A Pentagon spokesperson said on Sunday that MV Chem Pluto was hit by “a one-way attack drone fired from Iran”.

The Indian Navy spokesperson said a joint investigation by various agencies commenced following completion of the analysis of the vessel by the explosive ordnance team.

“MV Chem Pluto has been cleared for further operation by her company-in-charge at Mumbai. The ship is scheduled to undergo mandatory checks by the various inspecting authorities before undertaking ship to ship transfer of cargo,” he said.

“This is likely to be followed by docking and repairs of the damaged portion of MV Chem Pluto,” he said.

The official said three guided missile destroyers have been deployed in the Arabian Sea in view of spate of attacks on commercial vessels in the region.

MV Chem Pluto, carrying crude oil to New Mangalore port from Al Jubail port in Saudi Arabia, was struck about 217 nautical miles from Porbandar on Saturday. No one was injured in the incident.

A Gabon-flagged commercial crude oil tanker with 25 Indian crew members also came under a drone attack in the Southern Red Sea on Saturday but no one was injured, according to Indian officials and the US military.

“Considering the recent spate of attacks in the Arabian Sea, Indian Navy has deployed guided missile destroyers, INS Mormugao, INS Kochi and INS Kolkata, in various areas to maintain a deterrent presence,” the official said.

He said long-range maritime reconnaissance P8I aircraft are being regularly tasked to maintain domain awareness.

“Western Naval Command’s Maritime Operations Centre is actively monitoring the situation in close coordination with Coast Guard and all concerned agencies,” he said.

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Over two dozen passengers on board the charter plane held in France for days over suspected human trafficking stayed back despite the aircraft flying out to Mumbai after legal clearances.

These include 20 adults and five minors who have sought asylum in France, said a local official, without identifying their nationality. Their applications would be processed at the Paris airport.

Asylum seekers can’t be sent back to their country of origin under international law.

Two others questioned by the French police over suspected trafficking stayed back too, but they have received expulsion order from France, their lawyer said.

They were released after the cops were convinced the passengers had boarded the flight out of free will, reports suggest.

Their lawyer said the judge was able to “resist media pressure in this case”, which led to their release.

The plane belonging to Romania’s Legend Airlines landed in Mumbai early this morning with 276 passengers after a go-ahead from a French judge. It departed Vatry around 2:30 pm (local time) and reached Mumbai just after 4 am (IST).

It is not known exactly how many Indians are among the 276 passengers and what nationality are the other flyers.

The Nicaragua-bound Airbus A340 was carrying 303 passengers, most of them Indians, when it reached Vatry airport near Paris last Friday. It was grounded on its arrival from Dubai for refuelling after an anonymous tip-off that the passengers could be potential trafficking victims.

French authorities are still probing the case for immigration law violation, not human trafficking any more, reports suggest citing judicial sources.

Nicaragua in central America is a popular destination for immigrants to cross into the US illegally.

Nearly 97 lakh Indians have tried to enter the US illegally in the financial year 2023, a whopping 51.61 percent jump from the previous year as per US official data. At least 41,770 of those Indians tried to cross the Mexican land border into the US, the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) data showed.

Flights to Nicaragua or other countries where one can easily obtain travel documents are known as ‘dunki’ flights.

The US forces carried out strikes on three sites used by Iran-backed forces in Iraq after an earlier attack left three American personnel injured. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described the strikes as “necessary” and “proportionate”.

“Today, at @POTUS’ direction, US military forces conducted necessary & proportionate strikes on 3 facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah & affiliated groups in Iraq. These precision strikes are a response to a series of attacks against US personnel in Iraq & Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias, including an attack by Iran-affiliated Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups on Erbil Air Base earlier today,” Austin said in a statement that also shared on X, formerly Twitter.

Today’s attack, the statement said, wounded three US personnel and the condition of one of them is critical. “My prayers are with the brave Americans who were injured today,” Austin said.

The US Defense Secretary said President Biden “will not hesitate to take necessary action to defend the US”. “And let me be clear – the President and I will not hesitate to take necessary action to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests. There is no higher priority. While we do not seek to escalate conflict in the region, we are committed and fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities,” the statement said.

The Kataib Hezbollah is a Shiite militia founded in 2007 with the support of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. The US declared Kataib Hezbollah as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organisation’ in 2009 and sanctioned its Secretary General, Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, for violence against US-led coalition forces in Iraq.

The attacks on US troops in Iraq have spiked amid the war in Gaza between US ally Israel and Hamas. The Gaza conflict was triggered by a shock attack on Israel cities that left over 1,100, mostly civilians, dead. Israel’s brutal retaliation in Gaza has killed over 20,000 people, according to the Hamas-run territory’s administration.

The deaths in Gaza, news agency AFP reported, have sparked widespread anger in the Middle East and provided an impetus for attacks on American troops by forces opposed to their presence in the region.

There are roughly 2,500 American troops in Iraq and some 900 in Syria as part of efforts to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group.