The body of an Indian sailor who went missing after an attack on a commercial vessel off the coast of Oman has been recovered. A seafarers' union official confirmed the discovery on Wednesday, days after the ship came under fire near a key Gulf shipping route.
What happened to the missing Indian sailor?
Heramb Karmarkar, a 30-year-old marine engineer from Pune, went missing after Sunday's attack on the Cypriot-flagged GFS Galaxy. His body was found by the Omani coast guard and confirmed by the ship's operating company on Tuesday evening. Manoj Yadav of the Forward Seamen's Union of India said the confirmation came almost 60 hours after Karmarkar was first reported missing.
Who else was on board the GFS Galaxy?
The vessel carried 24 crew members at the time of the attack, including 10 Indian nationals. The other 23 crew, aside from Karmarkar, were rescued on Sunday. The U.S. Central Command said the GFS Galaxy had been disabled by a fire and damage to its engine room, and it blamed Tehran for the attack.
Why are attacks on Gulf shipping increasing?
The strike on GFS Galaxy came as Iran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and launched missiles and drones at Gulf neighbors, in retaliation for U.S. strikes. The strait, situated between Iran and Oman, is one of the world's most important maritime routes and a major transit point for global oil shipments. It has long been a flashpoint in tensions between Iran and the United States.
India's foreign ministry called the wider pattern of attacks on commercial shipping in the region "deeply worrisome" in a statement on Tuesday. It said the targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must end. India remains one of the world's largest suppliers of merchant shipping personnel, with more than 320,000 active seafarers as of 2025.
