2,000 km after strike, Indian Navy extracts unexploded missile from tanker in Kochi
It was like a ticking bomb that could go off any time. Only that it was a ship with a warhead stuck to its hull
It was like a ticking bomb that could go off any time. Only that it was a ship with a warhead stuck to its hull. The saviour — Indian Navy. The Indian Navy successfully recovered an unexploded missile warhead from a crude oil tanker that had sailed nearly 2,000 km after being struck off the coast of Oman. The missile pierced the hull of the Marshall Islands-flagged MT Olympic Life, crossed multiple compartments and became lodged inside a fuel tank before the vessel sailed through the Arabian Sea and reached Kochi. The recovery operation, carried out by a specialist Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team, isolated the warhead's detonation mechanism and safely extracted it along with associated debris, said the Ministry of Defence in a statement on June 11. Read Full Story The Ministry of Defence described the mission as a "meticulously planned and executed high-risk operation". The statement comes amid growing risks to commercial shipping in the Middle East (Western Asia), where merchant vessels have increasingly found themselves caught in the fire of the US-Israel-Iran War. They have been exposed and hit by missiles, drones and other sea mine attacks. Since June 9, three ships crewed by Indians have been hit by US forces enforcing a blockade around the Sea of Oman. Since the outbreak of the war, shipping companies have also had to contend with naval blockades and soaring insurance costs. The Gulf of Oman, where MT Olympic Life was hit, and adjoining waters have become one of the world's most sensitive maritime corridors, which carries a substantial share of global energy trade.
The Indian Navy’s EOD team safely recovered an unexploded missile warhead from the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker MT Olympic Life while it was sailing from the UAE to Kochi. (Image: @indiannavy) After the ceasefire broke down and the war escalated, merchant shipping in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz once again came under threat. In recent days, a US strike on tankers "accused of breaching a blockade on Iranian ports" killed three Indian seafarers, prompting New Delhi to summon the US Charge d'Affaires and lodge a formal protest. India condemned the attacks on civilian commercial vessels. Strategic, maritime experts and shipping managers described the strikes as illegal and dangerous for global shipping. The missile strike on MT Olympic Life occurred on May 26 while the tanker was sailing from Fujairah in the UAE to Kochi. SHIP TRAVELLED WITH MISSILE NEAR FUEL TANK FOR DAYS According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence on Thursday, the Indian Navy "successfully completed a complex operation involving the recovery of an unexploded missile warhead from the crude oil tanker MT Olympic Life". The ministry said the vessel, which "did not have any Indian nationals onboard", was on passage from Fujairah to Kochi when it "reported an explosion in its hull, while off the coast of Oman on 26 May 2026." Incidentally, Reuters had reported on May 26 that the MT Olympic Life suffered an "external explosion" on its port side, close to the waterline, about 60 nautical miles off Oman's capital Muscat.
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