Tanker MT El Gaia attacked off Oman’s coast — 13 Indian sailors rescued, one missing

India’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on Sunday that MT El Gaia, a Panamanian-flagged tanker with 14 Indian nationals aboard, was attacked off the coast of Oman. “Of the 14 Indians on board, 13 have been rescued so far,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal declared on X, adding that search-and-rescue operations for the missing Indian national are continuing.

Maritime warning PN NAVAREA IX 319/26 officially identified the vessel after a security incident in the Strait of Hormuz on September 13 — reporting fire, an oil leak and the vessel’s displacement to coordinates 26-26.50N, 056-30.10E, about 3.6 nautical miles northwest of the Musandam Peninsula.

It is still unclear whether this is the same vessel that Iranian state media reported was struck near Qeshm Island — with one dead and four wounded — or a separate second attack. The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) separately reported that another ship was hit by an unidentified projectile in the strait on Saturday evening, confirming the renewed wave of attacks on commercial shipping.

The attack comes at a moment of maximum tension in the U.S.–Iran war: Washington maintains its naval blockade of Iranian ports and ship-escort operations through Hormuz, where traffic remains about 90 percent below pre-conflict levels. Iranian state media, for its part, blamed a “terrorist enemy” for striking the vessel near Qeshm, while U.S. forces have not yet commented on the latest attack.

Source: CNN