24 Indian Seafarers seeking urgent assistance at 2057.07N 059 degree 0813 off coast Oman onboard. Picture: screenshot from FSUI
Twenty-four Indian seafarers were rescued from tanker Marivex, a ship sanctioned by the U.S. for Iran links, off the south-eastern coast of Oman on Monday (June 8, 2026), after a U.S. missile strike.The sailors sent distress messages to a Forward Seamen’s Union of India (FSUI) office-bearer that the U.S. Navy had attacked the ship’s engine room. Audio messages purported to be from the seafarers to Manoj Yadav, general secretary of FSUI, received at 2 p.m. (India time) say: “This is Motor Tanker Marivex. Fire on board. Vessel is sinking. U.S. Navy attacked with missile our engine room. We have a hole at the bottom.”U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement that “U.S. forces disabled (attacked) an unladen oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, June 8, after the vessel violated the ongoing blockade against Iran by attempting to sail to an Iranian port. An F/A-18 Super Hornet from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) fired a precision munition into the ship’s engineering and steering spaces after the crew failed to comply with directions from U.S. forces. Marivex is no longer sailing to Iran.”The Marivex crew’s distress message says that there was a U.S. warship nearby that was not helping, neither was there an immediate response from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre. Video clips sent to Mr. Yadav show a seafarer from the ship pointing to a warship nearby.
