A sailor from Gujarat died and five others were injured after a dhow came under fire in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, according to a representative of the Sailors’ Association. Officials at the Shipping Directorate, who requested to remain anonymous, confirmed the incident but did not provide details. They said they were helping.
The ship, a wooden sailboat called Al-Fayez Nour Soleimani 1, had a crew of 18 people. It had left Dubai on May 7 and was heading to Mecca in Yemen when it came under fire at around 1am on May 8 while crossing the strait – which is at the heart of the Iran-US conflict with neither side allowing maritime traffic.
In a letter to officials, Adam Bhaiya, secretary general of the Indian Sailing Federation (Gujarat), described the incident as an “unfortunate and violent” exchange between US and Iranian forces.
The deceased, Altaf Talab Kerr, was a dhow engine driver. He is from Salaya village in Dwarka district of Gujarat.
The remaining crew was rescued by MSV Prem Sagar-I (BDI-1491) at around 7am local time and reached Dubai Port by 6pm the same day. They are being treated at a local hospital
