Salvors seek port of refuge for product tanker hit by Iranian drone boat attack

Salvors are preparing to tow a fire-damaged product tanker off the coast of Oman to a port of refuge after it was struck by an Iranian projectile on 1 March 2026.

Tugs were sent to extinguish a blaze on the Marshall Islands-flagged product tanker MKD Vyom after an explosion and subsequent fire occurred on the 2007-built ship when it was reportedly struck by an unmanned vessel while off the coast of Muscat.

The 229-m ship’s managers, V Ships Asia, said in an update on the vessel and crew that “tugboats arrived on scene at approximately 13:00 local time on 2 March to engage in firefighting operations and have since successfully extinguished the fire.”

The explosion killed a crew member on the 74,032-dwt tanker as it was sailing from Port Said in Egypt to Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia. All remaining 20 crew members were rescued by Panama-flagged ship Sand, safely disembarked from an assisting vessel, and are ashore in Oman, V Ships Asia said.

“The vessel is reported to be in a safe and stable condition, and preparations are currently underway for the tugboats to tow it to a designated port of refuge, where it will undergo further inspection and any necessary repairs." The company said there have been no reports of pollution from the tanker.

Omani authorities said an unmanned vessel impacted the tanker’s main engineroom, leading to an explosion and fire. And the state-run news agency for Oman reported that an oil tanker flagged to the Republic of the Marshall Islands "was attacked by an unmanned surface vessel".

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) confirmed the attack on 1 March on MKD Vyom was by an uncrewed surface vessel and that the crew were evacuated to shore.