Indian sailor killed after cargo vessel is struck off Oman; 13 crew rescued

One Indian seafarer died and 13 others were rescued after the Indian-flagged cargo vessel MSV Al Jusufi was struck by an unidentified aerial object near the coast of Oman, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said on Tuesday, 3 November, per Republic World and The Logical Indian. This piece is as of the evening of 3 November. It does not name the dead sailor.

What the minister said

In a post on X, Sonowal said the vessel, carrying 14 Indian seafarers, was hit on 2 November while navigating near the Omani coast, and that the Omani Coast Guard rescued 13 crew members (Republic World). He said he was "deeply saddened" by the death and that the ministry and the Indian Embassy in Oman were coordinating with local authorities to assist the surviving crew and facilitate repatriation (The Logical Indian).

The Indian Express account

The Indian Express places the attack in Omani waters near Limah, close to the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, and says the vessel was reportedly hit around 4 pm India time on Monday, a few nautical miles after it had crossed Limah. It describes the projectile as suspected to be a drone or a missile. According to the paper, members of the family that owns the vessel said it had left Hamriyah port in the UAE for Porbandar on 31 October with 14 Indian crew and a cargo of 950 tonnes of fresh dates, and that the crew evacuated to a lifeboat after the attack. It reports that the sailor who died, aged 21 and from Gujarat, was the fifteenth Indian seafarer killed at sea since the start of the war, and that the strike came on the same day the United States carried out new strikes on Iranian targets in the strait.

Responsibility and background

The Logical Indian says authorities have not identified the aerial object or attributed responsibility, and that there has been no official confirmation whether it was a drone, missile or another projectile. Republic World says the incident follows repeated reports of attacks on commercial vessels, and notes that on 30 October a Marshall Islands-flagged LNG carrier, Al Mayeda, carrying six Indian seafarers, was struck by a projectile in the Persian Gulf; it says Sonowal reported all six Indians and the vessel's 25 crew safe.