Indian seafarer dies aboard vessel at Oman’s Duqm Port

Published 14 Jun, 2026 02:37pm 2 min read

An Indian national died from medical complications aboard the vessel MT Celestial while it was docked at Duqm ​Port in Oman, the Indian embassy in Muscat said ‌late Saturday.

“Necessary arrangements are being made for the early repatriation of the mortal remains to India,” the embassy said in a post on social media.

India ​has more than 300,000 seafarers working across global shipping fleets, ​according to government data.

More than 18,000 Indian seafarers ⁠are employed in the Middle East, an official in the ​country’s shipping ministry said last week.

The death comes days after three Indian ​seafarers were killed in a US strike on a tanker off Oman, triggering criticism from the public and opposition parties.

Opposition parties have urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ​to raise the issue with US President Donald Trump on ​the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit later this week.

And on Friday, ‌India ⁠took the rare step of lodging a second protest with the US over a strike that took place more than three months into the US-Israeli war on Iran.

India’s foreign ministry said it had ​summoned the US ​chargé d’affaires to ⁠convey “its deep concern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping.”

The body of ​35-year-old Nishanth Uirthanathan, who died on June 11, remained ​onboard ⁠for more than two days without proper refrigeration, the Forward Seamen’s Union of India said on social media on Saturday.

“Crew is using cold ⁠water ​bottles in a desperate attempt to slow ​decomposition — a horrifying and health-risking situation,” the union said, sharing a video it said ​was from the tanker.

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