Fourteen Indian crew members are being evacuated from a commercial vessel off the coast of Oman after it suffered an engine failure, the Indian Embassy in Muscat said on Sunday.
The crew were aboard the Indian-flagged merchant vessel Virat 1.
"It has emerged that the vessel experienced an engine failure, and the crew eventually transferred safely to a life raft. Rescue operation is presently underway through ships in vicinity, under coordination of Omani authorities," the Indian Embassy said in a social media post.
The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Gulf region. Last week, three vessels carrying Indian crew members were attacked by US forces off the coast of Oman, leaving three seafarers dead.
Earlier on Saturday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio exchanged sharply differing views during a phone call, with Jaishankar calling the US killing of three Indian mariners as "unjustified" and Rubio warning that violations of the American blockade in the Strait of Hormuz "will not be tolerated".
"Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified," Jaishankar had said in a post on X after he spoke with Rubio during which he raised India's "strong protest" over the killings.
Meanwhile, Rubio underscored that violations of the American blockade and the illicit transport of Iranian oil will not be tolerated, US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement.
Rubio stressed that all commercial vessels should immediately comply with orders from US forces as they seek to uphold peace and security in the Strait, Pigott said.
The US has imposed a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz since April 13, preventing transit of ships to and from the ports of the Islamic Republic as part of its efforts to restrict Tehran from profiting from oil trade.
India on Friday summoned US charge d'affaires Jason Meeks, the second time in a week, and told him that American military's "lethal and deadly" strikes on commercial vessels with Indian crew members off the coast of Oman are "unacceptable" and they undermine the safety, security and stability of international maritime commerce.