Indian ship destroyed near Strait of Hormuz

May 14 brought two separate maritime incidents near the Strait of Hormuz, according to Indian officials and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. Indian authorities said an Indian-flagged cargo vessel, Haji Ali, sank off Oman after an attack sparked a fire onboard, while UKMTO said a different ship anchored northeast of Fujairah had been taken by unauthorized personnel and was heading toward Iranian waters. The two events circulated together in online posts and videos, including claims that an “Indian ship” had been destroyed near Hormuz. The verified reporting so far supports the sinking of Haji Ali off Oman, but not a confirmed account that the vessel seized near Fujairah was Indian. ### Which ship has actually been identified by name? Indian officials identified the sunken vessel as Haji Ali, an Indian-flagged cargo ship traveling from Somalia to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Mukesh Mangal, a senior official in India’s shipping ministry, said the attack occurred on Wednesday, May 13, and Indian media reports said the vessel caught fire before sinking. (indianexpress.com) Reuters and other outlets reported that ship-tracking data on MarineTraffic last showed Haji Ali off the coast of Muscat on May 11. India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the attack on the Indian-flagged ship off Oman was “unacceptable,” according to reports citing spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. ### What is known about the crew and the attack off Oman? (indianexpress.com) Indian authorities said all 14 Indian crew members aboard Haji Ali were rescued by Oman’s coast guard and were safe. The vessel was described in reports as a cargo ship or mechanized sailing vessel operating off Oman’s northern coast near Limah when it was struck and set ablaze. (usnews.com) The cause of the strike has not been independently established in the official advisories cited here. Some media reports described a drone or missile-like projectile, but Indian officials, in the material reviewed, did not publicly assign responsibility. ### What about the ship reportedly seized near Fujairah? (indianexpress.com) UKMTO said on May 13 that a vessel anchored 38 nautical miles northeast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates had been taken by unauthorized personnel and was bound for Iranian territorial waters. The agency did not identify the vessel by name or flag in its public incident summary and said authorities were investigating. AP’s May 14 report, carried by Indian Express, also said UKMTO had not named that ship. (indianexpress.com) That matters because online claims and videos have blended the seizure report with the confirmed sinking of Haji Ali, creating the impression that a single Indian vessel was both identified and destroyed near the strait. The public advisories reviewed do not support that claim. (ukmto.org) ### Why did this claim spread so quickly? May 16 posts and videos appeared after several weeks of documented security incidents in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman. UKMTO’s incident summary dated May 14 said it had received 49 reports affecting vessels in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman since Feb. 28, including 27 attacks, 20 suspicious-activity reports and two hijacks. (indianexpress.com) A Joint Maritime Information Center update dated May 5 described the regional threat level as “CRITICAL” and said traffic through the strait remained significantly reduced after multiple security-related incidents. India’s government had already said on March 11 that 28 Indian-flagged vessels in the Persian Gulf were under continuous monitoring and that about 70% of India’s crude imports were being routed outside the Strait of Hormuz. (ukmto.org) ### What can be said, and what cannot? As of May 17, the confirmed facts are narrower than the online claim. Indian authorities have publicly identified Haji Ali as the Indian-flagged vessel that sank off Oman after an attack, and UKMTO has separately reported an unidentified vessel seizure northeast of Fujairah. (ukmto.org) What has not been confirmed in the sources reviewed is that the seized vessel near Fujairah was Indian, or that a single incident described as an “Indian ship destroyed near the Strait of Hormuz” matches the viral claim exactly. The next concrete updates are likely to come from UKMTO incident notices, Indian government statements from the Ministry of External Affairs or shipping ministry, and any vessel-identification updates carried in maritime tracking or insurer advisories. (indianexpress.com) (ukmto.org)