Indian navy helicopters have airlifted 24 sailors off a tanker on fire off the coast of Oman, New Delhi officials said, without saying what caused the blaze, AFP reports.
India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said a fire was reported at around 1:30pm (1pm PKT) on the MT Marivex, a Palau-flagged tanker.
“There has been a fire reported on a vessel, MT Marivex, on which there were 24 Indian seafarers… all Indian seafarers are safe,” ministry director Opesh Kumar Sharma told reporters.
Images posted on social media by the Forward Seamen’s Union of India showed crew members being winched from the vessel by helicopter as thick black smoke billowed from its bridge and accommodation cabins.
The tanker’s position was shown by ship-tracking service MarineTraffic as being off the coast of Oman, south of the capital Muscat.
