MUSCAT: Search teams on Wednesday rescued nine crew members and recovered a body of an Indian from an oil tanker that capsized off the coast of Oman earlier this week, the gulf state’s maritime agency said.
The Comorian-flagged MV Prestige Falcon overturned and sank in the Arabian Sea late on Monday night with 13 Indian and three Sri Lankan nationals aboard.
“Search and rescue operations have successfully saved 9 crew members of the oil tanker Prestige Falcon, all found alive,” Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said in a post on X.
“Tragically, one crew member was found deceased. The search-and-rescue operations continue for the remaining members of the vessel’s crew.”
An Indian navy vessel had rescued the nine crew after an overnight search around the vessel’s last location, near the Omani port town of Duqm.
Warship INS Teg was diverted from its operations in the area to assist for a search-and-rescue operation hampered by “rough seas and strong winds”, an Indian navy statement said.
The eight Indians and one Sri Lankan had been rescued by the vessel in the “challenging weather conditions”, it added.
A long-range P8I naval reconnaissance aircraft was assisting in the continuing search efforts for the remaining six crew members still unaccounted for, the statement said.
The vessel had been headed for the Yemeni port city of Aden, according to shipping website marinetraffic.com.
Oman’s Maritime Security Centre has not specified the cause of the capsize.
It was also unclear whether the vessel was carrying any cargo at the time it ran into distress.
