An urgent distress call from an Indian oil tanker that was rammed by US forces off the coast of Oman revealed moments of panic on board as sailors reported fire and flooding and feared the ship would sink.
The audio clip, which emerged days after the incident, shows a crew member on board the MT Marivex calling for immediate help after what he described as a missile strike on the ship’s engine room.
A crew member said in the distress message: “Sir, this is the tanker Marifix… We have a fire on board and the ship is sinking.”
“US Navy attack, missile on our engine room. We have a hole in the bottom. We have a fire on board, please help. Please help, please help.”
The crew member repeatedly stressed that all 24 sailors on board were Indian nationals.
“The total crew is all Indian. 24 crew members, all Indian crew. Please help quickly, we need immediate help,” he said.
The Indian Maritime Union reportedly received the distress call soon after the attack on Monday. Maritime unions then alerted Indian authorities and shared videos from the ship showing smoke billowing from the ship.
The United States says the tanker violated the blockade imposed on Iran
The strike came as the United States continues to impose a military blockade on Iranian ports in the wake of the expanding conflict in the Middle East and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) later confirmed that US forces disabled the Palau-flagged tanker after it allegedly violated the blockade by attempting to sail towards an Iranian port. According to US Central Command, an F/A-18 Super Hornet from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln fired “precision munitions” into the ship’s engineering and guidance spaces after the crew failed to comply with directions from US forces.
The US military said that Marifix made four attempts to breach the blockade, then turned its back on three previous occasions after warnings from the US Navy. She added that the ship was empty at the time of the attack.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Marivex, formerly known as Arihant, over its alleged links to Iran. The US authorities accused the ship and its owner of transporting Iranian fuel oil and bitumen across the Gulf. Ship tracking data shows that the tanker had previously docked at Iranian ports before sailing to the western coast of India.
Oman launches a rescue operation
Following the distress call, the Indian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Mumbai coordinated with the Omani Maritime Rescue authorities to ensure the safety of the crew.
A Royal Air Force of Oman helicopter was dispatched from Masirah Island and carried out a rescue operation and evacuated all 24 Indian crew members from the stricken ship. Pictures published after the accident showed crew members being pulled one by one from the deck of the tanker.
All 24 sailors were safely rescued and taken to shore on Masirah Island, according to Indian authorities. The Ministry of Defense later said the operation highlighted effective international cooperation in responding to maritime emergencies.
A third ship with an Indian crew on board was targeted this week
The Marivex incident is part of a worrying pattern that has emerged in the Gulf of Oman over the past week.
On Thursday, another tanker carrying Indian crew, the Gulliver, was attacked by US forces, according to information released by US Central Command. The Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship was among the ships accused of trying to move through the US blockade while transporting goods linked to Iran. All 20 Indian crew members on board Gulliver were reported safe and evacuated.
Earlier, the tanker Sitipilo was also bombed in the area. Unlike Marivex and Jalveer, the attack on Settebello was fatal. Indian officials said that three of the 24 Indian crew members on board the ship were killed.
