Oil tanker capsizes in Oman: The Indian Navy's warship INS Teg has been deployed off the coast of Oman along with maritime surveillance aircraft P-8I to carry out search and rescue missions after a Comoros-flagged oil tanker with 13 Indian crew members capsized near the country, according to defence sources. The Indian warship and aircraft are being aided by Omani vessels and personnel in their pursuit of the missing crew members.
According to the sources, the Indian warship was carrying out an operational turnaround in the area from where it was directed on July 15 to carry out search and rescue missions. The warship had located the capsizing oil tanker on July 16 morning, they added.
This came after the Comoros-flagged oil tanker with 16 crews including 13 Indians onboard capsized off Oman's major industrial port of Duqm, the Maritime Security Centre confirmed on Tuesday. The crew of "Prestige Falcon" comprised 13 Indian nationals and three Sri Lankans, the Omani centre said in a post on the social media platform X.
Separately, the centre said that the vessel remains "submerged, inverted". It did not confirm whether the vessel had stabilised or whether oil or oil products were leaking into the sea. Shipping data by LSEG had shown the tanker was heading to the Yemeni port of Aden and capsized off Oman's major industrial port of Duqm.
The vessel is a 117-metre-long oil products tanker built in 2007, the shipping data showed. Such small tankers are typically used for short coastal voyages. Omani authorities conducted a search-and-rescue operation at the scene in coordination with maritime authorities, Oman's state news agency reported late on Monday.
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.
Earlier, on November 27, a cargo ship carrying 14 crew members including Indian crew members, sank off the coast of Lesbos island in Greece due to high-speed winds. The Comoros-flagged ship Raptor, which was travelling from Dekheila, Egypt to Istanbul carrying a load of salt, sank 4.5 nautical miles (8.3 km) southwest of Lesbos.
(with inputs from agencies)
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