Two Indian sailors missing after drone hit near Oman

Were the missing men found?

Yes, but with grim news. The two Indian seafarers missing after the October 11 drone attack on the tanker MT PETRO DOLPHIN near Oman were later confirmed dead. Their bodies were located and identified. The other nine crew members were rescued safely by the Omani Coast Guard.

Who attacked them?

We could not find a reliable answer to this yet.

What are other risks faced by Indian sailors currently?

Indian sailors face dangers beyond the recent drone and missile attacks. They work in war zones like the Strait of Hormuz (the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman) and Gulf of Oman (the sea area off Oman's coast), plus risks from piracy, abandoned ships, unpaid wages and unsafe conditions far from Indian territory. Nearly two-thirds now serve as ratings (crew doing hard physical work on foreign-flagged ships).

Why are so many Indian sailors working in dangerous waters?

India is now the world's second-largest supplier of seafarers, with over 311,000 professionals, 12.16% of the global workforce. Many serve on foreign-flagged ships in high-risk zones like the Gulf of Oman. The government's own 'Mission 20%' (a scheme to raise India's share of global seafarers to 20%) aims to make one in five global seafarers Indian, which means more Indians exposed to war, piracy, and unsafe conditions far from home.

Was this the first attack on a tanker with Indians off Oman this year?

No. In June 2026, about four months earlier, a missile attack on the tanker MT Settebello near Sohar, Oman (a port city on the Arabian Sea) killed three Indian seafarers out of 24 Indians on board. Their bodies were later located and identified. The government has since issued repeated advisories telling Indian seafarers to exercise caution in those waters.

Why has India's seafarer number grown so fast?

India’s seafarer numbers grew after years of government effort: expanding maritime education and training institutes, updating laws like the 2025 Merchant Shipping Act (a law modernising shipping rules), and leaning on a workforce comfortable in English, shipping’s working language. This pushed India from 5.2% of the global workforce in 2015 to 12.16% by 2026.