Twenty Indian seafarers were on board a ship involved in a “maritime security incident” off the coast of Oman on Thursday, the Union government said. The crew members are safe and were being evacuated.
Videos posted on social media showed smoke billowing from the Guinea-Bissau-flagged bitumen tanker MT Jalveer. It was unclear what had caused the fire on the ship off the port of Shinas in northern Oman.
The Indian diplomatic mission said that it was monitoring the situation and coordinating with the local authorities.
Shinas is near the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively blocked since the war in West Asia began in February.
The incident came a day after three Indian seafarers were killed when the United States military struck a commercial tanker off the coast of Oman. Twenty-one others had been rescued from the Palau-flagged tanker Settebello on Wednesday.
New Delhi summoned the US Chargé d’Affaires Jason Meeks to register its protest against the strike.
The US Central Command had said that it had struck the Settebello, claiming that the vessel had violated the American blockade restricting maritime traffic linked to Iran. The ship was allegedly attempting to transport oil from Iran.
On Monday, another tanker, Marivex, carrying 24 Indian seafarers, was targeted by the US military for allegedly violating the blockade. All crew members were rescued.
Written by Nachiket Deuskar. Edited by Sneha.
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