Oil tanker sinks off Oman coast with 13 Indians onboard among 16 member-crew

An oil tanker bearing a Comoros flag, with 13 Indians among its 16-member crew, capsized off the coast of Oman with all its crew members currently missing, the country’s Maritime Security Center said.

Oman’s Maritime Security Center informed on July 16 that the oil tanker, Prestige Falcon, capsized around 25 nautical miles (46.3 km) southeast of Ras Madrakah, near the port town of Duqm.

The search and rescue operations were underway in an effort to rescue the missing crew, said the Maritime Security Center, adding that three of them are of Sri Lankan nationality. The center has informed that the vessel is “submerged and inverted”.

However, the center has not confirmed if there is a leakage of oil or oil products into the sea or if the vessel had stabilized after capsizing.

According to shipping data shared by LSEG, the oil tanker was heading towards the Yemeni port of Aden and capsized off Oman’s Duqm, an industrial port located on the southwest coast of the country.

The port of Duqm is located close to the sultanate's major oil and gas mining projects, including a major oil refinery that forms part of Duqm's vast industrial zone and Oman's biggest single economic project.

The data also stated that the vessel is believed to be a 117-metre-long oil products tanker built in 2007. Such small tankers are usually deployed for short voyages, it said.