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A chemical tanker which was struck on Saturday off the coast of India was targeted "by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran," the Pentagon confirmed on Saturday night, according to the AFP news agency.

“The motor vessel Chem Pluto, a Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker was struck at approximately 10:00 a.m. local time today in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles from the coast of India, by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran,” a Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement.

The vessel was described as having Israel links, due to the fact that it was leased by a Dutch company from a European company that is partially and indirectly owned by an Israeli businessman.

The attack caused no casualties aboard the vessel and a fire that broke out as a result was extinguished, the spokesperson added.

The US military "remains in communication with the vessel as it continues toward a destination in India," the statement said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strike which came amid a flurry of drone and missile attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.