8 Indians, one Sri Lankan rescued after oil tanker capsizes off Oman
DUBAI – Nine crew members out of 16, who went missing after an oil tanker capsized off the coast of Oman, have been rescued, sources said.
Out of the nine members, eight are Indians and one is from Sri Lanka, sources said. MT Falcon Prestige, a Comoros-flagged oil tanker, with a 16-member crew, capsized 25 nautical miles southeast of Ras Madrakah near the port town of Duqn in Oman. Three Sri Lankan nationals were among the 16 crew members.
The port of Duqm is located on Oman’s southwest coast, close to the Sultanate’s major oil and gas mining projects, including a major oil refinery that forms part of Duqm’s vast industrial zone, Oman’s biggest single economic project.
The oil tanker was headed for the Yemeni port city of Aden, according to shipping website marinetraffic.com.
The capsized oil tanker transmitted a distress call around 10:00 p.m. on Monday (15) off the coast of Oman, sources said.
The Indian Embassy in Oman said it is in constant touch with the Omani authorities and the search and rescue (SAR) operation is being coordinated by the Oman Maritime Security Centre and the Indian Navy is conducting operations in the region.
Indian Navy’s warship INS Teg has been deployed along with maritime surveillance aircraft P-8I along with the Omani vessels and personnel, news agency ANI reported.
Officials from Oman’s Maritime Security Centre told Reuters news agency on Tuesday (17) that the vessel remained “submerged, inverted” but didn’t confirm if it had stabilized.
Oman’s defence ministry, which runs the centre, did not respond to questions about whether the contents of the tanker had spilt into the sea.
The 117.4m-long tanker was built in 2007, according to marinetraffic.com. The area the ship capsized in falls in the province of Duqm in Oman, where the country has a massive industrial port.
Indians form a majority of the global maritime workforce and they are often the victims of accidents or piracy.
Seventeen Indian crew members of the MSC Aries, a commercial ship with links to Israel, were stuck when Iranian troops seized the vessel in April. They were released after negotiations between India and Iran.
In 2022, 16 Indian crew members of a ship were held in the custody of Equatorial Guinea’s navy for nine months.
-NDTV/BBC
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