An oil tanker carrying 16 crew members, including 13 Indians, capsized off the coast of Oman on Monday. The Comoros-flagged oil tanker, named Prestige Falcon, overturned approximately 25 nautical miles southeast of Ras Madrakah, near the port town of Duqm.
According to Oman’s Maritime Security Center (MSC), the search and rescue operations are ongoing to locate the missing crew members. The MSC stated that the vessel remained “submerged and inverted” after the incident, but did not confirm whether any oil or oil products were leaking into the sea.
The oil tanker was en route to the Yemeni port of Aden from Dubai’s Hamriya port when the incident occurred.The vessel, which was manufactured in 2007, is believed to be 117 meters long.
The MSC, which is overseen by Oman’s defense ministry, launched the search and rescue operation in collaboration with relevant authorities immediately after the incident was reported. However, as of now, the 16 crew members, including 13 Indians and 3 Sri Lankans, remain unaccounted for.
The capsizing of the oil tanker off the Omani coast comes amid the ongoing conflict in Yemen, where the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been involved in a series of attacks on maritime traffic in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. However, there is no evidence linking the Prestige Falcon’s incident to Houthi aggression.
The conflict in Yemen, which has been ongoing since 2014, has resulted in a devastating humanitarian crisis, with tens of thousands of casualties. The power struggle is often portrayed as a proxy war between regional heavyweights Iran, supporting the Houthis, and Saudi Arabia, backing the Yemeni government.
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In response to the Houthi threats, the U.S. and British forces have conducted missile strikes on rebel positions in Yemen, though these efforts have had limited success in curbing the rebel group’s capacity to launch further attacks.
The capsizing of the oil tanker off the Omani coast is a concerning incident, and the search and rescue operation to locate the missing crew members is ongoing. The incident highlights the need for enhanced maritime security measures in the region to ensure the safety of seafarers and prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.