An Indian vessel has sunk about 80 nautical miles off Ras Al Hadd, Oman, but all 14 crew members were safely rescued on Sunday, officials said.

The Indian Embassy in Oman said in a social media post that the rescue operation involving the Indian-flagged MSV Virat 1 was successfully completed, and all crew members were transferred safely and are now aboard Jabal Ali 9 en route to Mumbai.

Earlier, the embassy said search and rescue efforts were coordinated with Omani authorities and nearby vessels after the ship suffered an engine failure, forcing the crew to move into a life raft.

India’s Directorate General of Shipping later confirmed that the vessel has sunk.

According to MarineTraffic data, the cargo vessel is registered under the Indian flag.

US naval assistance

The US 5th Fleet said that its forces received a distress call at 0700GMT and a US Navy P-8 aircraft reached the scene first and deployed a search and rescue kit, allowing the mariners to board a life raft.

While the commercial vessel Jabal Ali 9 recovered 11 crew members, an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln rescued the remaining three sailors after their raft capsized in rough seas. The US military noted that the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Michael Murphy also responded to the emergency.

The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, following reports of Indian crew members being injured in earlier vessel attacks in the region.

India on Friday summoned the top US diplomat in New Delhi for the second time in a week to protest the attacks, official sources told Anadolu.

On Thursday, the Indian government said that at least three Indians were killed after US forces targeted the vessels off the coast of Oman.

According to the US Central Command, this week it disabled the Guinea-Bissau-flagged M/T Jalveer and Palau-flagged tankers M/T Marivex and M/T Settebello for trying to transport Iranian oil.