One dead and nine rescued off the coast of Oman after oil tanker sinks | Business and economic news

Nine people rescued from a crew of 16 Indian and Sri Lankan nationals while the search for others was ongoing.

Rescue teams saved nine crew members and recovered the body of another after their oil tanker sank off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea.

Search teams responded to the tanker, MT Prestige Falcon, after it capsized on Monday night about 25 nautical miles (46.3 km) off Ras Madrakah in Oman, the maritime safety agency said. of the country on Wednesday. Thirteen Indians and three Sri Lankans were on board.

It was not immediately clear what caused the Comorian-flagged ship to sink. But the Indian Navy, which sent a warship to help with search operations, said teams were dealing with rough seas and strong winds.

In a statement, the Indian Navy said eight Indian nationals were among those rescued and that Indian and Omani teams continued to search for the others.

He said a long-range naval reconnaissance aircraft was helping in the search for six crew members still missing.

India’s navy has been continuously deployed around the Arabian Sea since 2008 and helped in numerous rescue operations last year following a rise in regional piracy attacks.

The 117-meter-long (384-foot-long) MT Prestige Falcon entered service in 2007 and was heading to the port city of Aden before running into problems, according to navigation website VesselFinder.

In apparently unrelated incidents, Houthi rebels attacked two other oil tankers off the coast of neighboring Yemen on the same day, attacking them with missiles and drones.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree identified the two ships as the Panama-flagged Bentley I and the Liberian-flagged Chios Lion.

The Chios Lion, an oil tanker, likely spilled oil after a Houthi drone struck its port side, with a 220km oil slick located along the Yemeni coast following the attack, according to the Conflict and Environment Observatory.

The Houthis have attacked ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November, in a campaign they say is aimed at showing solidarity with Palestinians in the midst of Israel’s war in Gaza.

The attacks forced some of the world’s biggest shipping companies to suspend operations in the region, sending their ships to the longer route around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, slowing trade between Asia and Europe.