NEW DELHI — An Indian citizen died from medical complications while aboard the tanker MT Celestial, which was docked at Duqm Port in Oman, according to a statement released late Saturday by the Indian embassy in Muscat.
The embassy announced on social media that steps are being taken to return the sailor’s remains to India as quickly as possible. “Necessary arrangements are being made for the early repatriation of the mortal remains to India,” the embassy wrote.
India has a massive maritime workforce, with more than 300,000 seafarers serving on ships around the world, according to government figures. A shipping ministry official noted last week that more than 18,000 of those sailors are currently working in the Middle East.
The incident comes just days after three Indian seafarers lost their lives in a U.S. military strike on a tanker off the coast of Oman — a strike that occurred more than three months into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. That event drew sharp criticism from the Indian public and opposition political parties.
Opposition leaders have called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring up the matter directly with U.S. President Donald Trump when the two are expected to meet on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit later this week.
On Friday, India took the unusual step of filing a second formal protest with the United States over the strike. India’s foreign ministry said it summoned the U.S. chargé d’affaires to express “its deep concern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping.”
The sailor who died aboard the MT Celestial has been identified as 35-year-old Nishanth Uirthanathan. He passed away on June 11, and according to the Forward Seamen’s Union of India, his body remained on the vessel for more than two days without proper refrigeration.
The union shared a video on social media that it said was taken aboard the tanker, describing a desperate situation. “Crew is using cold water bottles in a desperate attempt to slow decomposition — a horrifying and health-risking situation,” the union wrote.
