Oil tanker reaches India with live missile lodged inside:Attacked off Oman coast; Indian Navy removes warhead after 2,000km journey

The Indian Navy has prevented a major maritime disaster by safely removing a live missile from an oil tanker that arrived in Kochi from the United Arab Emirates. The Ministry of Defence said the MT Olympic oil tanker was attacked near the coast of Oman on 26 May. The vessel was sailing under the Marshall Islands flag. Although the missile struck the tanker, it did not explode. Instead, it pierced the outer structure of the ship and became lodged in a fuel tank. The tanker then travelled around 2,000 kilometres across the Arabian Sea before reaching Kochi. The Indian Navy later carried out a high-risk operation to remove the missile warhead safely. 3 pictures of the rescue mission No Indian nationals on board the tanker In a statement issued on 11 June, the Ministry of Defence said the tanker was travelling from Fujairah in the UAE to Kochi. There were no Indian nationals on board. Despite the attack near the Omani coast, the vessel continued its journey and later informed authorities that a missile was stuck inside the ship. Following the alert, action was coordinated through the Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in Gurugram. The Southern Naval Command in Kochi then deployed a team of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialists. Warhead lodged inside fuel tank Investigators found that the missile’s warhead had become lodged inside one of the tanker’s fuel tanks. A large quantity of crude oil was present in the area where the missile was stuck. Officials said an explosion could have caused a major disaster, resulting in serious damage to the vessel, its crew and port facilities. The Navy’s EOD team carried out the operation in several carefully planned stages. They first located and neutralised the missile’s explosive mechanism before safely removing the warhead and associated debris from the tanker. ​