All 22 Indian sailors on board the crude oil tanker MT GEM No. 2 have been rescued and are safe after an incident off the coast of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, India’s Consulate in Dubai said on Sunday. The consulate said it was in touch with UAE authorities and was giving the seafarers all possible help.
A drone strike, then a fire
The trouble began on Friday, October 9. Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said in a post on X that the Panama-flagged tanker, crewed entirely by Indian nationals, had been hit in a drone attack at Sharjah Anchorage, one of the waiting areas where ships lie at anchor off the UAE coast. He said at the time that all 22 crew members were reported to be completely safe.
We are continuously monitoring the situation and in contact with the ship management company to ensure security.
Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Shipping Minister
On Saturday, the UAE National Guard said its Coast Guard team had launched a rescue after the tanker’s crew reported a fire on board. The team reached the vessel and took off all 22 crew members, who were given first aid and handed over to the relevant authorities. The National Guard said all of them were in a stable medical condition. Officials have not said whether the fire was a result of Friday’s strike, or who was behind the attack.
Iran claims a mine strike near Hormuz
The rescue comes as attacks on merchant shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz keep rising. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Saturday that an oil supertanker able to carry about 2 million barrels had struck a naval mine and exploded while trying to leave the strait through what it called an unauthorised southern route, after switching off its navigation and positioning systems. The IRGC did not name the vessel, and there was no information on its crew.
A day earlier, the IRGC’s navy said it had hit a large liquefied petroleum gas carrier, the NV Sunshine, on a route south of the waterway. It has also warned that action against ships using routes it has not approved will no longer be confined to the Strait of Hormuz, and that such vessels will be pursued across the region.
Why it matters for India
Each new strike near the Gulf raises the stakes for the Indian seafarers who crew ships in the region, and for the companies that employ them. The Strait of Hormuz, the only sea route in and out of the Gulf, carried about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28. Friday’s attack took place off the UAE coast rather than inside the strait itself.
Iran announced on July 12 that it had closed the strait again after US attacks resumed, and it insists that ships seek its permission and stick to routes it designates. Talks between Washington and Tehran remain stuck largely on the question of navigation through the waterway. For now, the Indian government says it is tracking the GEM No. 2 crew’s situation with the ship’s managers and UAE authorities.
