Arrangements are being made for the repatriation of the man’s remains, the Indian Embassy in Oman has said
An Indian sailor has died on board a vessel stranded near the Strait of Hormuz amid the US blockade of Iranian ports, officials have announced. Repeated distress calls from the vessel reportedly went unheeded.
The body of the Indian crew member, who died aboard the MT Celestial, was disembarked at Duqm Port in Oman, the Indian Embassy posted on Saturday. It was later moved to the Ministry of Health Hospital in the city.
US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the blockade of Iranian ports would be lifted immediately, after a peace agreement with Tehran was finalized.
Hundreds of ships had been stranded in the Persian Gulf area after Iran closed the area and the US blockaded Iranian ports in retaliation.
Nishanth Uirthanathan, MT Celestial’s second officer, died on June 11 after falling seriously ill. There was no response to repeated distress calls from the ship for a medical evacuation of the 35-year-old, seafarers’ unions in India alleged.
The mortal remains of Mr. Nishanth Uirthanathan have been disembarked from MT Celestial at the Port of Duqm and transferred to the Ministry of Health Hospital, Duqm.
The Embassy of India in Muscat is coordinating closely with the family of the deceased and the concerned Omani…
— India in Oman (Embassy of India, Muscat) (@Indemb_Muscat) June 14, 2026
The Forward Seamen’s Union of India posted on X that the crew had to keep the body on board the ship for two days and used cold water bottles in the absence of refrigeration systems.
The Indian Embassy in Oman said it is coordinating with local authorities to send Uirthanathan’s remains to India and is in touch with his family.
The death comes amid the killings of three Indian crew members aboard a chemical tanker in a US missile strike last week. Two other tankers were also struck by US forces for allegedly trying to run the blockade of Iran.
India has more than 3,00,000 seafarers working across global shipping fleets. Of them, over 18,000 are employed in West Asia. India conveyed its concerns about the attacks on commercial ships to US Chargé d’Affaires Jason Meeks, who was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in New Delhi twice last week.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to meet Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France this week.
Separately, the US Naval Forces Central Command said it assisted in the rescue of the crew of a stranded vessel, MV Virat 1, in the Northern Arabian Sea on Sunday. Eleven of the crew were later transported to the M V Jabal Ali. Three mariners, whose life raft capsized, were airlifted to Jabal Ali.
