A fire erupted on a Palau-flagged tanker with a crew of 24 Indians when it was attacked off the coast of Oman on Monday, and all the crew members were later evacuated to safety by the Oman Air Force.The crew members were evacuated by a helicopter of the Oman Air Force. (X/ videograb AllSeafarers)The fire was reported by the crew of MT Marivex, which was not carrying any cargo, at 1.30pm, Opesh Kumar Sharma, director in the shipping ministry, told a media briefing. “The vessel was well out of the Strait of Hormuz, and well clear to the south,” he said, adding that all the crew members were safe.Several hours later, the crew members were evacuated by a helicopter of the Oman Air Force, videos posted on social media platforms showed.An audio recording of a SOS message purportedly sent by the crew of Marivex featured a crew member saying that the vessel was on fire after a “US Navy attack by missile on our engine room”. Sharma told the media briefing that Indian authorities were ascertaining whether the vessel was hit by a projectile.The shipping ministry coordinated with the external affairs ministry, the Indian mission in Oman, the defence ministry and Indian Navy to ensure the safety of the crew members.According to marinetraffic.com, a website that tracks the movement of merchant vessels, Marivex was sailing from Karwar in Karnataka to Duqm in Oman.The Forward Seamen’s Union of India, one of the country’s oldest organisations representing seafarers, said in a social media post that the “attack on a vessel carrying 24 Indian seafarers…is a matter of serious concern”.It added, “FSUI urges swift and coordinated action to ensure the safety of the crew, provide support to their families, and uphold the security of seafarers at sea.”Oman is located adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked by Iran since the start of a conflict with Israel and the US in February. The attack on Marivex came against the backdrop of a fresh flare-up in hostilities between Israel and Iran since Sunday.Ten Indians have died in West Asia since the start of the conflict, including three seafarers who were killed in attacks on merchant vessels in the early days of the hostilities.