NEW DELHI, June 14 (Reuters) – An Indian national died from medical complications aboard the vessel MT Celestial while it was docked at Duqm Port in Oman, the Indian embassy in Muscat said late Saturday.
“Necessary arrangements are being made for the early repatriation of the mortal remains to India,” the embassy said in a post on social media.
India has more than 300,000 seafarers working across global shipping fleets, according to government data. More than 18,000 Indian seafarers are employed in the Middle East, an official in the country’s shipping ministry said last week.
The death comes days after three Indian seafarers were killed in a U.S. strike on a tanker off Oman, triggering criticism from the public and opposition parties.
Opposition parties have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise the issue with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit later this week.
And on Friday, India took the rare step of lodging a second protest with the U.S. over a strike that took place more than three months into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
India’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the U.S. chargé d’affaires to convey “its deep concern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping.”
The body of 35-year-old Nishanth Uirthanathan, who died on June 11, remained onboard for more than two days without proper refrigeration, the Forward Seamen’s Union of India said on social media on Saturday.
“Crew is using cold water bottles in a desperate attempt to slow decomposition – a horrifying and health-risking situation,” the union said, sharing a video it said was from the tanker.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
