Informative · Strait of Hormuz

India just lost a sailor to an unclaimed strike near Hormuz

1 hour ago · 3 November 2026Share

A general cargo ship being towed to berth in Rotterdam. — A general cargo ship, the Aalsmeergracht, being towed to berth in Rotterdam. File photo. W. Bulach · CC BY-SA 4.0

An Indian cargo ship just got hit off the coast of Oman.

And one of its crew is dead.

Here's what happened. The MSV Al Jusufi was sailing near Limah, Oman, a day ago. It got hit by an aerial object nobody has identified yet. Could be a drone. Could be a missile. Nobody knows.

14 Indian seafarers were on board.

13 of them made it. The Omani Coast Guard pulled them out.

The 14th didn't.

His name was Gandhar Nahim Ajij. He was from Gujarat. He died of his injuries.

India's own Shipping Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, confirmed it today. He says quote "one of our seafarers, Gandhar Nahim Ajij from Gujarat, tragically succumbed to his injuries".

And here's the thing. This is the first time in this whole conflict that India's government has confirmed a named death at sea.

So who did it? Nobody has claimed it. Nobody has said what the object was. Nobody has said who fired it. Nobody has even said whether the ship was the target at all.

India's Ministry of External Affairs has condemned the attack anyway. It says quote "the continuing incidents of attacks on commercial shipping in the region are deeply concerning". It's calling for de-escalation and for the talks already underway to actually finish.

That's India asking for a war to end that it never started. A war that keeps killing its own people anyway.

Right now, India's shipping ministry and its embassy in Oman are working to get the surviving crew home. And to bring Gandhar Nahim Ajij's body back too.

The rest of this story is for members.

But this isn't a one-off.

Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, Iran has been restricting ships through the Strait of Hormuz. And ships with Indian crew keep getting hit.

Government figures from about a week ago put the toll at 22 Indian nationals dead since the war started. 14 of them seafarers. This death pushes that number higher.

And the attacks keep stacking up. Three weeks ago, two Indian seafarers went missing after a drone hit the tanker MT Petro Dolphin near Sohar, in Oman. The same day, another ship, the MT Valthera, carrying 11 Indian crew, was hit by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz. Back in May, an Indian vessel sank in Omani waters after an attack — though that time, all 14 crew were rescued.

India's own maritime regulator has already told shipping companies to stop sending Indian crew through the Strait of Hormuz completely.

Ships with Indian crew are still getting hit anyway.

So the diplomatic solution India keeps asking for hasn't come. And the strait keeps taking Indian lives while everyone waits for it.

No country has said it fired on the Al Jusufi. No investigation has found anything yet.

India's maritime regulator told shipping companies months ago to simply avoid the strait. Companies are still sending Indian crew through it anyway, because the cargo still has to move and the strait is still the only way through.

For now, all India has is a name, a hometown, and a family waiting for answers that haven't come.

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India just lost a sailor to an unclaimed strike near Hormuz

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