Drone Attack on Oil Tanker Leaves Two Seafarers Missing Off Oman
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A drone struck the oil tanker Petro Dolphin while it was at anchor off Sohar, Oman. Of the eleven Indian crew members on board, nine were rescued by Omani authorities, while search and rescue efforts continue for the two seafarers who remain missing.
Initial reports
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency confirmed the attack and explained that the incident was initially classified as 'suspicious activity,' a categorization that was later changed to a drone attack once it was confirmed that the projectile had struck the vessel directly. The agency noted that the condition of the crew and the environmental impact were unknown at the time of the first report, and that local authorities were assisting with the evacuation.
A second incident the same day
On the same day, another drone attack was recorded against the vessel Valthera, which was transiting the Strait of Hormuz with a crew also made up of eleven Indian nationals. In that case, the strike caused a fire on board, although all crew members were reported unharmed, according to MarineTraffic Maritime News.
An attack far from the conflict zone
Maritime Executive described the episode as the latest in a series of suspected Iranian attacks, noting that it occurred far from the main conflict zone around the Strait of Hormuz, in the waters of Oman, a country regarded as neutral and with which Iran had recently agreed to share administration of the strait. The outlet specified that the Petro Dolphin is a small, 4,000 deadweight-ton product tanker built in 2004, UAE-owned and -operated, with no port state control inspection history, and that its AIS signal has not been received by commercial tracking services since May 2026, while its registry reportedly appears irregularly under the flag of Nicaragua. India's Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, confirmed in a statement that search operations for the two missing seafarers are ongoing.
India's response
India's Ministry of External Affairs called for an immediate halt to attacks on merchant vessels, seafarers and civilian infrastructure, describing these incidents as 'deeply concerning' and warning that they could further aggravate an already volatile situation.
