India-crewed tanker hit near Iran, MEA says communication between ship & US Navy preceded strike

The US military on Monday fired at a tanker housing 24 Indian crew members for its suspected involvement in the Iranian oil trade as Washington continues to enforce a blockade of the Islamic Republic’s ports. Following the incident, India's Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday said that there was some exchange of communication between the ship and the US Navy before the incident.

An American fighter jet fired a precision munition into the Marivex’s engineering and steering spaces on Monday as it attempted to sail from the Gulf of Oman toward Iran, the US Central Command said in a statement.

Also read: US confirms military action on vessel that violated Iran port blockade


"The ship MT Marivex was disabled off the coast of Oman. We have learned that it is a Palau-flagged vessel. We also understand there was some exchange of communication between the ship and the US Navy before the incident," said MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, adding that the 24 Indian nationals on board the ship were safely rescued.

Jaiswal highlighted that the Indian Embassy contacted Omani authorities for the rescue mission "who swung into action."

India thanked Omani government for its "excellent support" in rescuing the crew and ensuring their safety.

Ship-tracking data, accessed by Bloomberg showed the Marivex, which is falsely flagged to Madagascar, appeared to be trying to sail past the Anerican blockade line that runs from the easternmost tip of Oman to the Iran-Pakistan border. In the past week, the vessel turned twice while sailed northeast along the Omani coast toward the line, where US warships are stationed.

The tanker of around 12,800 deadweight tons is owned by Panama-based Arihant Shipping Inc., as reported by Bloomberg, citing database Equasis.

US Treasury Department had sanctioned the vessel under its previous name Arihant for transporting Iranian fuel oil and bitumen.

Accrording to data from Kpler, Marivex recently delivered a cargo, believed to have loaded from the port of Shahid Rajaee in Iran, to Mangalore and Karwar in India.

Under the ongoing US-Israel war against Iran, the Donald Trump administration has been enforcing a blockade of ships sailing to and from Iranian ports since mid-April, as it seeks to increase pressure on Iran to end its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

So far, American forces have disabled seven non-compliant vessels and redirected 134 ships, the Central Command said.