An oil tanker carrying 15 Indian nationals was struck off the coast of Oman, injuring four crew members, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran.
An oil tanker carrying 15 Indian nationals among its crew was struck off the coast of Oman on Sunday, injuring four people, as hostilities between Israel and Iran continued to reverberate across the region, according to a Reuters report.
The Palau-flagged tanker Skylight was hit near Oman’s Musandam peninsula, in what authorities described as the first time targets in or near Oman have been struck during the latest escalation. The vessel is under US sanctions, the report said.
Oman’s Maritime Security Centre stated in a post on X that the attack occurred about “5 nautical miles north of Khasab Port”, after which the tanker’s 20-member crew was evacuated. It did not specify the weapon used.
Initial information indicated injuries of varying severity to four crew members. The crew included 15 Indians and five Iranian citizens, the centre added.
According to Reuters, the tanker’s registered owner is Sea Force Inc and it is managed by Red Sea Ship Management LLC. The US sanctioned both the company and the vessel in December 2025, accusing them of operating a “shadow fleet” to transport Iranian petroleum products in the Gulf.
Ship-tracking service Tankertrackers.com described Skylight as a small tanker primarily used for fuelling other vessels and said it had been anchored in Musandam governorate since February 22.
Strategic significance of Musandam
The incident comes amid a broader wave of retaliation in the Gulf following joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which have pushed the region into a new phase of conflict. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in coordinated strikes on Iranian targets.
Musandam is strategically significant as the peninsula shares control of the Strait of Hormuz with Iran — a key global chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.
Earlier, Oman’s state news agency reported that Duqm commercial port was hit by two drones, injuring one expatriate worker. Authorities said debris from another drone fell near fuel storage tanks, though no casualties or material losses were reported in that incident.
Wider Middle East escalation
The tanker strike follows a sharp escalation in the Middle East after joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
On Sunday, a massive explosion rocked Iran’s capital, Tehran, as the Israeli military said it was targeting central areas. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones at Israel and several Gulf countries in retaliation for Khamenei’s killing.
Iran’s leadership warned that the “great crime will never go unanswered”, while US President Donald Trump cautioned Tehran against further retaliation, saying any escalation would be met with unprecedented force.
The conflict has already disrupted regional security and aviation, with air defence activity reported across parts of the Gulf. Strikes and interceptions have been recorded across Israel and several Arab states, raising fears of a wider regional war.
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