Fake claim of Indian Navy ship INS Visakhapatnam hit in drone attack goes viral.
A claim is going viral on social media platforms stating that the Indian Navy ship INS Visakhapatnam has been hit by an unidentified drone attack in the Gulf of Aden. Major damage has been reported. The claim has been shared by several Pak-based handles to tarnish the reputation of the Indian Navy.
Sharing an Image on X(Twitter), a Pak-based handle named Hello Pakistan claimed: “The Indian Navy’s destroyer, INS Visakhapatnam, was hit by a suicide drone in the Gulf of Aden. The ship’s air defense missiles were unable to stop the drone”
The archive version can be seen here
Another Pak-based handle by the name of Islamabad vibes also shared some images and wrote: “BREAKING: Indian Navy ship INS Visakhapatnam deployed in the Gulf of Aden just got struck by an unknown drone attack. Major damage to the ship is being reported. Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis are suspected to be behind this attack”
The archive link can be seen here.
Not only this, but many users were found sharing some images and making similar claims.
Fact-Check
To investigate the viral claim, the DFRAC team searched some keywords and found a tweet by the official handle of the Indian Navy explaining that the Indian Navy’s INS Visakhapatnam, a mission deployed in the Gulf of Aden, swiftly responded to a distress call by Marshall Island flagged MV Genco Picardy to assist.
Upon investigating further, we found a media report by live mint from Jan 18, 2024, mentioning: The Indian Navy’s Guided Missile Destroyer INS Visakhapatnam reportedly responded to a drone attack distress call in the Gulf of Aden. The distress call was made from a Marshall Islands-flagged merchant vessel (MV) in the Red Sea. The development comes as Yemen’s Houthi rebels disrupt commercial shipping trade routes citing solidarity with Palestinians, the latter being under relentless attack from Benjamin Netanyahu Israel”.
Furthermore, media reports from Hindustan Times, NDTV and India Times also reported similar facts in the context of the above viral claim.
Conclusion
It is clear from DFRAC’s Fact-Check that the viral claim stating the Indian Navy ship INS Visakhapatnam has been hit by an unidentified drone attack is misleading since the INS Visakhapatnam responded to a drone attack distress call by a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden.
