NEW DELHI: After over a week-long complex operation off the Kochi coast, the Indian Navy has recovered and safely disposed of an unexploded missile warhead that had become lodged inside the fuel tank of a crude oil tanker.
The Navy said on Thursday that the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker 'MT Olympic Life', which had no Indian nationals on board, reported an explosion in its hull on May 26 while transiting from UAE's Fujairah to Kochi. The incident occurred off the coast of Oman.
As the vessel continued towards Kochi, it reported the presence of an unexploded ordnance on board.
Acting on the information received through the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), the Southern Naval Command deployed a specialist Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team to assess the threat.
According to the Navy, the team found that a projectile had breached the vessel’s hull, traversed multiple structural compartments and embedded itself inside a fuel tank without detonating.
Officials clarified to TNIE that while the incident was reported on May 26 off Oman, the actual recovery and disposal operation was carried out off Kochi and required more than a week of highly specialised procedures, because of the risks involved in handling unexploded ordnance inside a fuel storage compartment.
After removal by the specialised EOD team, the recovered warhead has been moved to a secure facility for detailed examination.
The Navy has not disclosed the nature of the projectile or attributed the strike to any actor.
The operation comes amid growing concerns over maritime security in Gulf waters. In the past four days, three vessels carrying Indian crew members have been struck off Oman amid the ongoing US-Iran confrontation.
A US Navy attack on the Palau-flagged tanker 'Settebello' on Wednesday killed three Indian seafarers, triggering a diplomatic protest from New Delhi.
The three vessels which came under attack in the past days --Palau-flagged 'Marivex' and 'Settebello' and the Guinea-Bissau-flagged 'Jalveer'-- were operating under flags of convenience and fell outside the ambit of Operation 'Urja Suraksha'.
Launched in March, Operation Urja Suraksha involves Indian warships escorting Indian-flagged and certified India-bound merchant vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. More than five frontline warships are currently deployed on the mission.
Sources said eligibility for naval escort is determined by a range of operational and regulatory considerations and is not based solely on the presence of Indian crew members on board.
US Central Command (CENTCOM), which imposed a naval blockade on Iran on April 13, has said the vessels were targeted after repeated warnings went unheeded. It has claimed that Marivex was headed for an Iranian port, while Settebello was carrying Iranian oil. The circumstances surrounding the latest incident involving Jalveer remain unclear.
CENTCOM has said nine vessels have been disabled, 135 redirected and 42 humanitarian ships allowed passage since the blockade began.
The strike on Settebello on Wednesday killed three Indian seafarers and left the vessel crippled off the Oman coast. The surviving crew members were rescued by Omani authorities.
Earlier this week, the crew of Marivex was rescued after the tanker was disabled, while all 20 sailors aboard Jalveer are reported safe following the latest suspected strike.
India’s responses to the incidents have so far come from the Coast Guard, the Ministry of External Affairs and the shipping ministry.
