An unloaded oil tanker, MT Marivaux, with 24 Indian crew members on board was decommissioned and later caught fire in the Gulf of Oman on Monday following US military action, according to officials.The US military said F/A-18 Super Hornets fired precision munitions at the ship after it allegedly violated the blockade of Iran’s ports and ignored instructions from US forces. “U.S. forces disabled an unladen oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on June 8 after the ship violated the ongoing blockade against Iran by attempting to sail toward an Iranian port.”Disclosing further details it said, “US Central Command (CENTCOM) disabled the Palau-flagged M/T Marivex as it crossed international waters in the Gulf of Oman towards Iran. An F/A-18 Super Hornet from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) fired a precision munition into the ship’s engineering and steering spaces after the crew failed to follow instructions from US forces. Marivex is no longer traveling to Iran.”Meanwhile, according to ANI sources, Indian officials, while not acknowledging the attack by the US warplane, said that all 24 Indian sailors on board the plane were evacuated safely with the help of Omani authorities.A shipping ministry official further said that the ship was not Indian owned and was reportedly blacklisted by the US OFAC. The sources said the ship had made several attempts in recent days to evade US naval warnings, including turning off tracking signals and entering Omani waters after which it was “disabled”.On 8 June, the ship made another attempt to bypass the blockade using Omani territorial waters. It switched off its signal equipment to remain undetected. “This pattern makes it clear that it was not intended to be above board. The ship was in an unloaded state when it was decommissioned,” said a source, speaking on condition of anonymity.The Embassy of India in Muscat confirmed the safe evacuation of all crew members and thanked the Omani authorities for their prompt response. Investigation of the incident is ongoing.Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the Forward Seamen’s Union of India (FSUI) had sought immediate assistance for the 24 Indian sailors aboard the ship, amid rising tensions in the region linked to the Israel-Iran conflict. At that time, the cause was not known.