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In a high-risk operation involving explosive ordnance specialists, the Indian Navy has safely recovered an unexploded missile warhead from a foreign-flagged crude oil tanker that was en route to Kochi after reporting damage to its hull in the Arabian Sea.
The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker MT Olympic Life, carrying no Indian nationals onboard, was sailing from Fujairah in the UAE to Kochi when it reported an explosion in its hull off the coast of Oman on May 26.
As the vessel continued its journey towards the Indian coast, it informed authorities about the presence of an unexploded ordnance onboard. The alert was relayed through the Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), prompting the Indian Navy to launch a coordinated response.
Officials said the Kochi-based Southern Naval Command dispatched a specialist Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team to inspect the vessel after it approached Indian waters. The assessment revealed that a projectile had pierced the ship’s hull, passed through several structural compartments and eventually become embedded inside one of the tanker’s fuel storage tanks.
The discovery significantly heightened the risks associated with the operation, given the presence of combustible material in the vicinity of the unexploded warhead.
According to the Navy, the EOD team adopted a carefully sequenced approach, carrying out extensive safety checks before attempting extraction. Using advanced diagnostic equipment, the specialists identified and isolated the warhead’s detonation mechanism before removing the unexploded missile component and associated debris from the tanker.
The recovered ordnance has since been shifted to a secure facility for safe storage and forensic examination to determine its origin and technical characteristics.
While the Navy did not disclose the nature of the missile involved or the circumstances that led to the projectile striking the tanker, officials described the operation as one of the more complex explosive-disposal tasks undertaken in recent years, given the confined location of the warhead inside a fuel compartment.
The successful completion of the mission highlighted the Indian Navy’s specialised capabilities in explosive ordnance disposal and its ability to respond swiftly to maritime emergencies that require technical expertise and coordination among multiple agencies.
The Navy said its intervention reflected India’s commitment to ensuring the safety of shipping in the Indian Ocean, underlining that assistance was extended irrespective of the nationality of the vessel, its ownership or the composition of its crew.
The incident also comes amid continuing concerns over maritime security in the wider region, where commercial shipping has increasingly faced threats from missiles, drones and other hostile actions, underscoring the growing importance of rapid-response capabilities to protect global sea lanes.
Team BharatShakti
