A fatal assault on a Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk cargo vessel transiting the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman has left one Indian maritime worker dead and triggered an urgent international investigation into the nature and perpetrators of the attack. The incident, which unfolded on Wednesday, September 23, targeted the MV Cape Dao, a bulk carrier en route from the United Arab Emirates to India, according to official updates from Oman’s Maritime Security Centre.
Following the strike, the vessel suffered significant damage that ignited a blaze in its engine room, leaving the ship dead in the water. Quick response teams from the Omani navy deployed immediately to the scene of the emergency, successfully evacuating all 27 surviving crew members from the burning vessel and bringing them to safety.
In subsequent identifications released by Indian news outlets, the deceased seafarer was named as Suraj Yadav, a native of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. Of the full 28-person complement on board the MV Cape Dao at the time of the attack, 20 were citizens of India, marking the heavy Indian representation in the commercial vessel’s crew.
To date, key details about the attack remain unconfirmed, with conflicting accounts emerging from initial intelligence and on-scene reports. Some sources have documented the strike as coming from two torpedoes, while early assessments from maritime security agencies categorized the weapon involved as an unknown projectile. No group or nation has yet claimed responsibility for the assault, and official investigations are still working to pinpoint both the perpetrators and the underlying motive for the attack on the commercial vessel.