At 1800 UTC on October 30, 2026, the Royal Navy of Oman rescued 25 crew members from the Panama‑flagged commercial vessel RITI after it was attacked and set ablaze 1.6 nautical miles off the coast of Musandam in northern Oman.
Attack and Response
The incident was first reported by Oman’s Maritime Security Center, which issued a statement describing a vessel that “caught fire after being attacked” close to Musandam. The center confirmed the Royal Navy’s intervention and that the evacuated crew received necessary medical care, but it did not provide further details about the attackers or the cause of the blaze.
Oman's Royal Navy responded immediately, coordinating the evacuation with the Maritime Security Center. The navy moved small boats and skippers to the stricken vessel, boarded the ship, and transferred the crew to shore facilities where medical teams rendered emergency treatment. All 25 survivors were reported to be in stable condition after the operation.
Separate reports from UK Maritime Trade Operations noted that a different vessel had caught fire approximately 25 nautical miles northeast of the provincial capital Khasab while traveling outbound through the Strait of Hormuz on the same day. Though the incidents were unrelated, the concurrency of fires in the same maritime corridor raised concerns about the security situation in the region.
According to a Reuters brief published 2 hours prior to the Xinhua release, the Royal Navy was praised for its rapid response, and the vessel’s flag state, Panama, was thanked for cooperating in the subsequent investigation. The incident underscored the international nature of shipping traffic in the Gulf of Oman and the need for vigilant maritime security measures.
For now, no additional details have emerged from the Maritime Security Center regarding the identity of the attackers or the operation that set the RITI ablaze. The Royal Navy remains on standby to assist any further incidents that may arise along the Oman coastline.
