The Indian Navy has rescued nine people off the coast of Oman, including eight Indians and one Sri Lankan. Indian Navy’s warship INS Teg along with maritime surveillance aircraft P-8I have joined Omani vessels and personnel to carry out search and rescue missions near Ras Madrakah, Oman, after a Comoros-flagged ship with its 16-member crew, including 13 Indians, capsized.

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 (SAR) missions. The warship had located the capsizing oil tanker on July 16 morning, said defence sources.

The swift mobilisation of the naval assets happened after MT Falcon Prestige, the Comoros-flagged vessel, transmitted a distress call around 2200 hours on July, 14, 2024, off the coast of Oman, defence sources said.

“Our embassy in Oman is in constant touch with the Omani authorities. A search and rescue operation for the seafarers, coordinated by the Oman Maritime Security Center (OMSC), is on,” sources said.

The Maritime Security Centre of Oman confirmed this on social media platform, X: “A Comoros-flagged oil tanker capsized 25 NM southeast of Ras Madrakah. SAR Ops initiated with the relevant authorities.” The Comoros, which is one of the poorest countries, is a volcanic archipelago off Africa’s east coast, in the warm Indian Ocean waters of the Mozambique Channel. 

Oil tanker Prestige Falcon was on sail to the Yemeni port of Aden when it capsized on the evening of July 15 owing to its reported inability to negotiate rough seas and strong winds.

Besides 13 Indians, 3 Sri Lankans were also part of the crew of vessel, a 117-meter-long tanker built in 2007.

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