An oil tanker carrying 15 Indian nationals among its crew was struck off the coast of Oman on Sunday, injuring four people, as fresh hostilities between Israel and Iran continued to ripple across the region, according to a Reuters report.
The Palau-flagged tanker Skylight was hit near Oman’s Musandam peninsula, marking what authorities described as the first time targets in or near Oman have been struck during the latest escalation. The vessel is under US sanctions, the Reuters report mentioned.
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Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said in a post on X that the attack occurred about “5 nautical miles north of Musandam’s Khasab Port”, after which the vessel’s 20-member crew was evacuated. It did not specify what weapon struck the tanker.
Initial information showed “injuries of varying severity” to four crew members. The crew comprised 15 Indians and five Iranian citizens, the Oman Maritime Security Centre mentioned.
RT, a Russian news network, posted a video of the oil tanker that was struck off Oman coast. India Today could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
The Reuters report mentioned that the tanker’s registered owner is Sea Force Inc, and it is managed by Red Sea Ship Management LLC. The US had sanctioned Red Sea Ship Management and the Skylight in December 2025, accusing them of operating a “shadow fleet” to transport Iranian petroleum products in the Gulf.
Ship-tracking service Tankertrackers.com described Skylight as a small tanker mostly used for fuelling other vessels and said it had been anchored in Musandam governorate since February 22.
Following the attack on oil tanker, Iranian broadcaster said, Oman announced that an oil tanker flying the flag of Palau and attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz was targeted 5 miles from Oman. Iran announced last night that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz.”
The Iran conflict has disrupted shipping in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which is the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea. On a typical day tankers carrying the equivalent of 20% of global oil consumption pass through it with cargoes from producers such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar, as per a Reuters report.
The development comes amid a broader wave of retaliation in the Gulf following joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which have pushed the region into a new phase of conflict. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the coordinated US and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets
Musandam is strategically sensitive as the peninsula shares control of the Strait of Hormuz with Iran — a key global chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.
Earlier in the day, Oman’s state news agency reported that Duqm commercial port was hit by two drones, injuring one expatriate worker. Authorities said debris from another drone fell near fuel storage tanks, though no casualties or material losses were reported in that incident.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MIDDLE EAST
The tanker strike comes amid a dramatic escalation in the Middle East after joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
On Sunday, an enormous explosion rocked Iran’s capital as the Israeli military said it was targeting central Tehran. Iran has responded by firing missiles and drones at Israel as well as several Gulf countries in retaliation for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s leadership has warned the “great crime will never go unanswered”, while US President Donald Trump cautioned Tehran against further retaliation, saying “if they do, we will hit them with a force that has never been seen before”.
The conflict has already begun disrupting regional security and aviation, with air defence activity reported over parts of the Gulf. Strikes and interceptions have been reported across Israel and multiple Arab states, raising fears of a wider regional war.
(With input from Reuters)
