Two Indians have been killed in an attack on an oil tanker 'Skylight' in the Gulf of Oman amid escalating tensions between US-Israel and Iran. The two have been identified as Captain Ashish Kumar from Bihar and Dixit Solanki from Mumbai. Dalip Singh, a crew member from Rajasthan working on the same ship, has been reported missing.
The Palau-flagged oil tanker, which arrived on February 22, was struck off Oman's Musandam Peninsula in an attack that followed drone strikes on the country's Duqm port.
"The Maritime Security Centre announces that the oil tanker (SKYLIGHT), flying the flag of the Republic of (Palau), was targeted 5 nautical miles north of Khasab Port in the Musandam Governorate, and all crew members of the tanker, consisting of 20 individuals--including 15 holding Indian nationality and 5 of Iranian nationality--have been evacuated," Oman's Maritime Security Centre (MSC) said in a post that did not mention what hit the tanker.
What We Know About 2 Indians Killed In Iran Attack
According to the information provided by the government, the burnt bodies of two people have been recovered. Ashish Kumar's body was recovered from the captain's cabin.
Kumar joined the Merchant Navy on January 20, and his first enlistment was in Dubai. On February 22, he boarded an Oman-bound Skylight ship, carrying the IMO number 9330020 and was serving as captain, said his brother, Akash.
Dixit Solanki, a Mumbai resident, had returned to duty after spending several months with his family in Mumbai.
Dalip Singh, a resident of Khinwatana village in Rajasthan's Nagaur, began his duty on January 22 and was serving as a crew member on the tanker. At the time of the attack, Singh was in the forward section of the ship with Kumar, reported the news agency PTI.
Captain Ashish's Son Waits For Him
Captain Ashish Kumar, a resident of Bettiah in Bihar, was the eldest of three brothers. His father, Ashok Kumar, is a lawyer, and his mother, Sunita Devi, is a homemaker. Ashish's wife, Anshu Kumari, is inconsolable, while their five-year-old son, Daksh, waits for his father.
Speaking to NDTV, Ashish's brother, Shubham, said that the family learned about the attack on Sunday (March 1) through the news and social media.
"We weren't sure if the ship attacked was the one bhaiya (brother Ashish) was on board," Shubham said.
Last night, the Skylight called the family and confirmed the attack on its ship. The family then reached out to the Embassy in Oman.
"Until yesterday, we considered him missing, but today the news of his death has devastated the entire family," they said.
Through NDTV, Shubham urged PM Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the Bihar government to intervene in the matter.
Meanwhile, the Solanki family from Kandivali in Mumbai is now mourning the loss of a second family member within months. He had been home late last year for his mother's final rites and rejoined duty shortly before the war. He is now survived by his father and an elder sister.
The situation remains tense at Dalip Singh's house in Rajasthan. A young man from Nagaur, he worked on a crude oil company ship. Reports suggest a missile struck his ship and completely destroyed it at a port in Oman on March 1 morning. Singh was reportedly in the bow of the ship, working alongside Captain Ashish Kumar, at that time.
The company has informed his family that he has been missing since but did not confirm his death.
The Strait Of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world's oil passes. Tankers traveling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran, carry oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Iran. Most of that oil goes to Asia.
Any disruption to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is highly disruptive to the oil trade.
(With inputs from Jitendra Kumar)
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