After an attack on a commercial vessel off the coast of Oman on Wednesday, 21 Indians have been rescued while three are still missing, the Ministry of External Affairs has confirmed. In a statement, the centre condemned the attack that happened earlier in the day.
A missile tore through the engine room of the oil tanker Settebello near the Strait of Hormuz, triggering a fire onboard.
The Palau-flagged vessel had 28 crew aboard, 24 of them Indian nationals, when it sent out a distress call reporting the strike while sailing roughly 20 nautical miles northeast of the Omani port of Sohar.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said 21 of the 24 Indian sailors had been pulled to safety, but three remained missing. New Delhi said its embassy in Muscat had been activated and was working closely with Omani authorities as search and rescue teams continued to comb the waters.
We have learnt of an incident involving a vessel off the coast of Oman. We are closely monitoring the situation and in close touch with the local authorities. We shall update soon.
— India in Oman (Embassy of India, Muscat) (@Indemb_Muscat) June 10, 2026
British maritime security firm Ambrey assessed the strike as likely linked to an ongoing US naval blockade targeting Iranian shipping, noting a pattern in such operations where crew are directed to the bow before the stern is hit.
The attack is set against a rapidly deteriorating security situation in one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors. Washington imposed a blockade on Iran-linked shipping in mid-April after Tehran moved to choke off commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
The tit-for-tat standoff has since left the waterway, through which a significant share of global oil and gas flows, increasingly treacherous for civilian vessels. By June 8, US forces had disabled seven non-compliant ships and redirected over 130 others, according to Central Command figures.
The Settebello incident is far from isolated. Since early March, dozens of commercial vessels have been caught in the crossfire along the Gulf coastline, with strikes recorded off the UAE, Kuwait and Oman. In late May, a separate tanker was struck roughly 60 nautical miles east of Muscat, and earlier in the year Iran hit a tanker near the Omani port of Khasab.
India, home to one of the world’s largest seafaring workforces, has repeatedly found its nationals in harm’s way as the conflict intensifies.
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