Sumit Kumar Singh, a 35-year-old oiler from Vaishali, Bihar, remains missing five days after his vessel, the Panama-flagged tanker MT El Gaia, was struck by an unidentified projectile while transiting off the coast of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz on the night of September 12-13, 2026. Singh, who has two children and a wife named Komal Priya, had signed onto the vessel on June 25, 2026, at Dahej. He was on watch in the engine room when the attack occurred. The vessel, approximately 20 years old and managed from Dubai, was operating in dark mode with its AIS disabled. The incident also left a Pakistani third engineer, Muhammad Hammad Obaida of Karachi, unaccounted for.
Following the strike, the
Omani Coast Guard boarded the vessel and rescued 13 Indian crew members. The tanker carried a total crew of 25, comprising 14 Indians and 11 Pakistanis. While the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has condemned the attack and the Indian Embassy in Oman is coordinating efforts, no confirmed location for Singh has been established as of the morning of September 18, 2026. The Forward Seamen's Union of India (FSUI) issued a lookout appeal on September 15 to all vessels and naval units in the Gulf of Oman and Musandam approaches.
This incident follows a broader trend of maritime security risks in the region; by July 2026,
16 Indian seafarers had been reported dead and ten missing amid ongoing regional conflicts. Despite Prime Minister Modi's recent call for a BRICS-led seafarers emergency support network, the system has yet to locate Singh. The MT El Gaia was not on any international sanctions lists, and the identity of the attacker remains unknown. The family, currently residing in Muzaffarpur, continues to await information while the FSUI and regional reporting highlight the ongoing humanitarian search for the missing oiler.
