NEW DELHI, March 5: Two Indians have been killed in an attack on an oil tanker “Skylight” in the Gulf of Oman amid escalating tensions between US-Israel and Iran. The two have been identified as Captain Ashish Kumar from Bihar and Dixit Solanki from Mumbai. Dalip Singh, a crew member from Rajasthan working on the same ship, has been reported missing.
The Palau-flagged oil tanker, which arrived on February 22, was struck off Oman’s Musandam Peninsula in an attack that followed drone strikes on the country’s Duqm port.
“The Maritime Security Centre announces that the oil tanker (Skylight), flying the flag of the Republic of (Palau), was targeted 5 nautical miles north of Khasab Port in the Musandam Governorate, and all crew members of the tanker, consisting of 20 individuals–including 15 holding Indian nationality and 5 of Iranian nationality–have been evacuated,” Oman’s Maritime Security Centre (MSC) said in a post that did not mention what hit the tanker.
According to the information provided by the government, the burnt bodies of two people have been recovered. Ashish Kumar’s body was recovered from the captain’s cabin.
Kumar joined the Merchant Navy on January 20, and his first enlistment was in Dubai. On February 22, he boarded an Oman-bound Skylight ship, and was serving as captain.
Dixit Solanki, a Mumbai resident, had recently returned to duty after spending several months with his family in Mumbai.
Dalip Singh, a resident of Khinwatana village in Rajasthan’s Nagaur, began his duty on January 22 and was serving as a crew member on the tanker. At the time of the attack, Singh was in the forward section of the ship with Kumar, after which he was reported missing. (Agencies)
