A third commercial vessel with Indian crew aboard caught fire off Oman this week, after MT Jalveer, carrying 20 Indian sailors, suffered an incident near Shinas Port on Thursday (11), Ada Derana reported, citing the Forward Seamen’s Union of India.
The Indian Embassy in Oman confirmed it was monitoring the situation and coordinating with local authorities. “We have learnt of an incident involving a vessel off Shinas Port of Oman earlier today. We are closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with the local authorities for further details,” the embassy said in a post on X. Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that five of the 20 crew were rescued by passing vehicles and taken ashore in Oman.
MT Jalveer is the third Indian-crewed ship in days to be attacked or disabled near the Gulf. Earlier this week the sanctioned tanker MT Marivex with 24 Indian seafarers caught fire south of the Strait of Hormuz after being attacked, and the Palau-flagged tanker Settebello was disabled by US Central Command with three Indian sailors missing after Washington said it had fired on the vessel for attempting to breach its blockade of Iranian oil exports.
The Strait of Hormuz has been almost entirely shut to commercial traffic since the US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, with Iran imposing its own full closure of the strait and the United States enforcing a parallel blockade since April. A fragile ceasefire in recent weeks has failed to deliver a deal to reopen the chokepoint.
The accumulating toll on Indian crew highlights how the dual Iran-US enforcement regime has converted the Gulf of Oman into a frontier zone for tankers attempting to move oil cargoes either way. Sri Lanka’s CPC imports continue to be exposed to the same risk premium and shipping detours that have driven up fuel costs since the war began.
Sources: Ada Derana — Third ship with Indian sailors on fire near Oman.
