Sixteen crew members, including six Sri Lankans, went missing after an oil tanker carrying them capsized off the coast of Oman.
According to reports, the oil tanker was heading to Yemen’s Aden Port. The Comorian-flagged oil tanker capsized off Oman on Monday. According to the Sultanate’s Maritime Security Centre (MSC), a search is underway for its missing crew of 16.
The MSC, run by the Omani Defence Ministry, did not specify the cause of the capsize. In a post on the social media platform X, it stated that a “Comoros-flagged oil tanker capsized” 25 nautical miles southeast of Ras Madrakah, near the port town of Duqm on Monday. Search and rescue operations were “initiated with the relevant authorities,” it added, without providing further details.
In a statement on Tuesday, the MSC identified the vessel as Prestige Falcon, saying it had 16 crew on board—13 Indians and three Sri Lankans. “The crew of the ship are still missing,” it said, as the search continued.
The vessel was headed for the Yemeni port city of Aden, according to shipping website marinetraffic.com. Shipping data from LSEG indicated that the tanker remained “submerged and inverted,” but did not confirm whether the vessel had stabilized or if oil or oil products were leaking into the sea.
The vessel is a 117-meter-long oil products tanker built in 2007. Such small tankers are generally deployed for short voyages.
Duqm Port, situated on Oman’s southwest coast, is a major hub of the country’s oil and gas mining projects. A significant oil refinery forms part of Duqm’s vast industrial zone, the kingdom’s largest single economic project.
