Another fire incident has been reported on a vessel with an Indian crew, near Shahid Port off the coast of Oman. The ship, MT Jalveer, has 20 crew members aboard, according to the Forward Seamen's Union of India. This is the third ship with an Indian crew that came under attack near Oman this week.

The incident was confirmed by the Indian Embassy in Oman, which said it was closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with the local authorities for further details.

"We have learnt of an incident involving a vessel off Shinas Port of Oman earlier today. We are closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with the local authorities for further details," the embassy said in a post on X.

According to Iran's Mehr news agency, five of the 20 crew members were rescued by passing vehicles and taken to Oman.

MT Jalveer is the third ship with an Indian crew to come under attack near Oman in recent days. Three Indian crew members were reported missing after a Palau-flagged oil tanker, Settebello, was attacked by US forces off Oman. The US military said it had fired on a tanker attempting to breach its blockade of Iran.

Before that, on Monday, fire erupted aboard MT Marivex, carrying 24 Indian seafarers south of the Strait of Hormuz, after it was attacked.

A critical waterway for global fuel supplies, the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf has been almost completely blocked since the start of the Middle East war, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

Talks during a fragile ceasefire in place over recent weeks have failed to deliver a deal to reopen the strait.

While Iran has blockaded the shipping lane since the war began, the US has also enforced its own competing blockade since April.

-NDTV