A 25-year-old sailor who died after a suspected drone attack on an Indian-flagged cargo vessel off the Oman coast near the Strait of Hormuz hailed from Gujarat’s Devbhumi Dwarka district, a relative of the vessel owner said on Wednesday (November 4, 2026).
Sumbhaniya. Mr. Nahim Ajij Gandhar was among the 14 crew members on board the vessel, which was registered at Bedi port in Gujarat’s Jamnagar district. The vessel, Al Jusufi, was carrying nearly 900 metric tonnes of dates from Hamriyah port in the United Arab Emirates to Porbandar when it was struck on November 2 off the Oman coast near Limah, said Mr. Sumbhaniya said he received a call from the MSV’s captain at around 4.45 p.m. on November 2, informing him that the vessel had come under a drone attack and caught fire. The vessel was sailing close to the Omani coastline, around 2 km from the shore and a few nautical miles after crossing the port of Limah, when the suspected drone attack took place, according to Mr. In a post on X on November 3, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said his Ministry and the Indian Embassy in Oman are in contact with local authorities to ensure immediate assistance for the 13 survivors and facilitate the swift repatriation.
He said all the crew members were residents of Salaya. The sailor’s family has decided to conduct Gandhar’s burial in Oman, citing delays in completing formalities, he said. The projectile hit, which triggered strong condemnation from India, destroyed the mechanised sailing vessel (MSV) and the consignment of dates it was carrying, said Akbar Ahmed Sumbhaniya, whose younger brother Jusab owns the vessel. “Within five minutes of the attack, the crew members boarded a lifeboat,” he said.
