Indian crew member killed after tanker attacked off Oman coast
An Indian crew member died on an oil tanker, the MKD VYOM, after it was struck by an unmanned vessel approximately 52 nautical miles off the coast of Muscat, Oman.
An Indian crew member died on an oil tanker, the MKD VYOM, after it was struck by an unmanned vessel approximately 52 nautical miles off the coast of Muscat, Oman.
An Indian crew member died on an oil tanker, the MKD VYOM, after it was struck by an unmanned vessel approximately 52 nautical miles off the coast of Muscat, Oman.
An Indian crew member was killed after an oil tanker was attacked by an unmanned vessel off the coast of Muscat, triggering an explosion and fire, Omani authorities said on Monday, as Iran continued its retaliatory strikes across the Gulf.
In a statement, the Oman Maritime Security Centre said the oil tanker MKD VYOM, flying the flag of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, was struck by an unmanned boat about 52 nautical miles off the coast of Muscat Governorate. The vessel was carrying approximately 59,463 metric tonnes of cargo at the time of the attack.
"The attack resulted in a fire and explosion in the main engine room, killing one crew member, an Indian national," according to the statement.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN's shipping agency, urged shipping companies to avoid sailing through the affected area until conditions improve.
The incident follows a series of attacks targeting vessels in the region. On Sunday, a Palau-flagged oil tanker under US sanctions was hit off Oman's Musandam peninsula, injuring four people, according to the Oman Maritime Security Centre. Authorities did not specify what struck the vessel. The tanker had a 20-member crew comprising 15 Indians and five Iranian nationals.
The crew of the tanker was evacuated after the attack, which occurred about five nautical miles north of Khasab Port in Musandam, along the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the security centre said in a post on X.
In a separate incident, another tanker at the UAE port of Jebel Ali narrowly avoided damage after debris from an aerial interception during overnight Iranian attacks targeting Gulf states fell nearby.
A third oil-bunkering tanker sustained damage off the UAE coast, while a fourth oil products tanker was reportedly targeted by a drone but managed to continue sailing without significant damage, maritime security sources told Reuters.
Port operations at Jebel Ali were temporarily paused on Sunday due to the security situation, officials said.
(With AFP and Reuters inputs)