Indian navy rescues sailors on tanker ablaze off Oman

Indian navy helicopters airlifted 24 sailors off the MT Marivex, which is on fire off the coast of Oman. (Screengrab/Social Media)

• Opesh Kumar Sharma: ‘There has been a fire reported on a vessel, MT Marivex, on which there were 24 Indian seafarers... all Indian seafarers are safe’
• Images posted on social media by the Forward Seamen’s Union of India showed crew members being winched from the vessel by helicopter

MUMBAI: Indian navy helicopters airlifted 24 sailors off a tanker on fire off the coast of Oman on Monday, New Delhi officials said, without saying what caused the blaze.
India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said a fire was reported at around 1:30 p.m. (0800 GMT) on the MT Marivex, a Palau-flagged tanker.
“There has been a fire reported on a vessel, MT Marivex, on which there were 24 Indian seafarers... all Indian seafarers are safe,” ministry director Opesh Kumar Sharma told reporters.
Images posted on social media by the Forward Seamen’s Union of India showed crew members being winched from the vessel by helicopter as thick black smoke billowed from its bridge and accommodation cabins.
The tanker’s position was shown by ship-tracking service MarineTraffic as being off the coast of Oman, south of the capital Muscat.
Indian authorities did not provide details about the extent of the damage to the vessel and did not indicate what may have sparked the fire.
Iran has largely blocked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel on February 28. The vital waterway normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s oil and LNG shipments in peacetime.
New Delhi’s foreign ministry condemned recent violence in a statement earlier on Monday.
“This conflict has now lasted over 100 days and has already caused immense human suffering,” it said.
“It has also had a debilitating impact on the global economy and energy supplies.”