Vessel with Indian crew targeted near Oman’s Shinas port; 3rd such incident amid US-Iran war | World

A merchant vessel with Indian crew onboard was targeted near the Shinas port of Oman on Thursday morning, said the government. This is the third such incident that has happened in the recent days after tensions once again escalated in the Middle East following the back-and-forth attacks between the United States (US) and Iran.

The vessel was identified as MT Jalveer, which is a Guinea-flagged ship. MT Jalveer reportedly had 20 Indian crew members, and the vessel is an “Asphalt/ Bitumen” tanker with a length of 119.95 meters and a width of 16.84 meters, as per ship monitoring website MarineTraffic.

A video has also gone viral on social media showing smoke rising from the vessel. However, India TV Digital cannot independently verify the veracity of the video. Meanwhile, the Embassy of India in Oman has said it is aware about the incident and monitoring the situation.

“We have learnt of an incident involving a vessel off Shinas port of Oman, earlier today. We are closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with the local authorities for further details,” the embassy said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Third such recent incident

This is the third such incident that has happened recently. The first incident happened on June 8 when a fire broke out on MT Marivex likely due to a strike. The tanker had 24 crew members in total, who were all Indians, and they were rescued safely.

The second incident happened on June 10 when tanker MT Settebello, a Palau-flagged vessel, was attacked in the Gulf of Oman. The vessel had 24 crew members. Of them, 21 were rescued, but three died due to the attack, confirmed the government. 

“Sadly, three Indian seafarers initially reported missing are now confirmed dead after two bodies were recovered,” Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Thursday, adding that the government stands in support with the family of the deceased.