An Indian sailor has died on board a vessel stranded near the Strait of Hormuz. US forces had earlier searched the ship and diverted its course, suspecting it of attempting to sail to an Iranian port.
Nishanth Uirthanathan, second officer of the MT Celestial, 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, the crew said in a video that went viral on social media on Sunday.
Media reports citing ship records alleged that the crew of MT Celestial Sea had repeatedly called the US Navy on VHF Channel 16 but received no response.
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.
On Sunday, the body was finally disembarked at Duqm Port in Oman. 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.
Manoj Yadav, general secretary of the Forward Seamen’s Union of India, told RT India that the crew tried to evacuate Uirthanathan to the Duqm port but was turned away. The port only allowed entry for the ship after the issue attracted media attention. “Why have they not done this two days before,” Yadav asked, pointing out that it could have saved the seaman’s life.
"That was very horrible that the master tried to reach out all the authority including the port authority as well as the US naval forces. We have heard his statement that he tried to reach out to the Indian embassy as well.
Due to the shortage of the medical care on board, he tried to approach to all the appropriate authority by releasing SOS. But unfortunately, nothing has been received from the other side," Yadav said.
At the same time, in an unrealted incident, the US Naval Forces Central Command announced on Sunday that it assisted in the rescue of the crew of another 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.
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.
Uirthanathan's 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.