Oman Airlifts Injured Crew After Tanker Strike in Strait of Hormuz as Maritime Security Frays

Oman’s air force carried out a medical evacuation of crew members from a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker that was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, according to the Omani Ministry of Defence. Ten injured sailors were flown from the stricken vessel, the On Peace, which was struck while transiting the strategic waterway on Tuesday. The ministry said the evacuation was launched after the attack ignited a fire on board the ship.

The vessel was hit approximately nine nautical miles, or roughly seventeen kilometres, off the coast of Limah, a port city in Oman’s northern Musandam governorate, the ministry stated. In a message posted on the social media platform X, Omani officials confirmed that the evacuated crew members were taken to Khasab hospital in Musandam, where they received medical care.

No organisation or state has publicly claimed responsibility for the assault, leaving the perpetrators unidentified more than a day after the strike. The absence of a claim has added to the uncertainty surrounding a waterway that has become increasingly dangerous for commercial shipping over the past several months.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs provided additional detail on the scale of the casualties, saying that at least twelve of the ship’s nineteen crew members were wounded when a projectile slammed into the tanker as it moved through the strait. Seventeen of the nineteen sailors on board were Indian nationals, the ministry said, and eleven of the injured were Indian citizens. The figures underscore the heavy reliance of global merchant shipping on Indian seafarers, who staff vessels across the world’s oceans in large numbers.

In its statement, the Indian government expressed deep alarm at the pattern of attacks on commercial vessels in the region. “The continuing incidents of attacks on shipping in the region remain a cause of deep concern for India,” the ministry said, while renewing its appeal for an immediate halt to such strikes in the interest of regional peace and stability. New Delhi has repeatedly raised the issue as more of its citizens have been caught up in the violence. India disclosed in July that at least ten Indian seafarers had been killed since the war between the United States and Israel and Iran began in late February. A separate attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz in September also claimed the life of an Indian sailor.

The attack on the On Peace is the latest in a series of incidents that have transformed the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes in normal times, into one of the most hazardous shipping lanes on the planet. According to Marisks, a shipping intelligence service, at least seven other incidents involving tankers have been reported in the past week alone. That tally suggests a sustained campaign rather than an isolated episode, and it has forced shipowners, insurers and crews to weigh the risks of each transit.

Iran effectively shut the waterway after the US-Israel war began on February 28, and it has repeatedly targeted commercial vessels that decline to use its designated route through the strait. Tehran has also signalled that it intends to charge ships for passage, a move that would further complicate international navigation in the channel and has been criticised as an infringement on freedom of navigation. The attacks have continued even as diplomats have sought to revive negotiations aimed at de-escalating the broader conflict.

Despite the perilous security environment, the flow of oil from the Middle East has recovered to levels last seen before the war. Provisional data from Kpler, a commodities data firm, shows the seven-day moving average of Middle East crude exports reached 18.3 million barrels per day on September 30. That compares with an average of about 18 million barrels per day over the twelve months preceding the conflict, suggesting that producers and shippers have adapted, at least in part, to the risks.

The resilience of export volumes, however, has not translated into relief at the pump or in global energy markets. Brent crude futures climbed to $101.51 a barrel on Tuesday, a sharp increase from $72.48 on the day before the war erupted. The price gap reflects the persistent risk premium attached to Middle Eastern supply, as traders factor in the possibility that the conflict could escalate further or that a major vessel could be sunk or seized, disrupting deliveries for an extended period.

The evacuation operation mounted by Oman highlights the critical role played by the sultanate, which sits on the southern shore of the Strait of Hormuz, in responding to maritime emergencies. Omani authorities have positioned themselves as a humanitarian actor in a volatile region, providing medical treatment and safe harbour for crews caught in attacks that have killed and wounded sailors from numerous countries. The transfer of the injured to Khasab hospital, in the exclave of Musandam that overlooks the narrowest point of the strait, places the victims close to the scene of the attack and to specialised care.

For India, the strike on the On Peace is a painful reminder of the exposure of its citizens to a conflict thousands of kilometres from its shores. Indian seafarers are among the most numerous in the global merchant fleet, and their government has found itself repeatedly issuing condemnations and demanding protection for its nationals. The ministry’s call for an immediate cessation of attacks reflects a broader frustration among shipping states that the waterway remains unsafe despite the high economic stakes involved.

The lack of a claim of responsibility leaves open several possibilities, including that the attack was carried out by an armed group or by a state actor seeking to avoid direct attribution. Such ambiguity is characteristic of the shadowy maritime conflict that has unfolded around the Strait of Hormuz since late February, where vessels have been hit by projectiles, drones and mines without any party stepping forward to acknowledge the strikes.

As the war between the US, Israel and Iran grinds on, the Strait of Hormuz remains a focal point of both military and economic pressure. Each new attack on a commercial ship raises insurance costs, complicates crew recruitment and adds to the arguments of those urging shipowners to avoid the route altogether. Yet with oil exports still flowing at pre-war levels, the waterway has not been closed to trade, even as it has become far more deadly for those who sail through it.