The Indian Navy along with its surveillance aircraft has successfully rescued nine crew members of the sinking oil tanker Prestige Falcon. The nine crew members including 8 Indians and one Sri Lankan have been rescued alive from MT Falcon Prestige during the search and rescue operations. The search and rescue operations to find the remaining five crew members is still underway.

The Comoros-flagged oil tanker with 13 Indians and 3 Sri Lankans as crew members has capsized off the coast of Oman, the country’s Maritime Security Centre said on Tuesday.

Indian Navy’s warship INS Teg has been deployed along with maritime surveillance aircraft P-8I along with the Omani vessels and personnel to carry out search and rescue missions after a Comoros-flagged vessel with its crew including 13 Indians capsized. The Indian warship was carrying out an operational turnaround in the area from where it was directed on July 15 to carry out search and rescue missions. The warship had located the capsizing oil tanker on July 16 morning, reported ANI.

“A Comoros-flagged vessel, MT Falcon Prestige, transmitted a distress call around 2200 hrs on 14 July 2024 off the coast of Oman. The merchant vessel has a crew of 16, of which 13 are Indian seafarers. The vessel seems to have capsized. Our Embassy in Oman is in constant touch with the Omani authorities. A search and rescue operation for the seafarers,  coordinated by the Oman Maritime Security Center (OMSC), is on. Indian Navy has also joined the search and rescue operations,” defence sources told ANI.

The tanker was heading to the Yemeni port of Aden, according to shipping data by LSEG. The vessel is a 117-metre-long oil products tanker built in 2007, LSEG’s shipping data showed. Such small tankers are generally deployed for short voyages.