Key facts
- Indian Navy recovered an unexploded missile warhead from the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker MT Olympic Life.
- The tanker reported an explosion off the coast of Oman on May 26 while en route from Fujairah, UAE, to Kochi.
- An unexploded ordnance was found lodged inside a fuel storage tank after piercing multiple compartments.
- A specialist Explosive Ordnance Disposal team conducted a phased approach for safe extraction of the warhead.
- The recovered warhead and debris were moved to a secure facility for further examination.
The Indian Navy has successfully completed a high-risk operation to recover an unexploded missile warhead from a commercial oil tanker, the MT Olympic Life, which had departed from Fujairah in the UAE. The vessel reported an explosion in its hull off the coast of Oman on May 26 while sailing towards Kochi.
Following the alert received through the Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), the Indian Navy's Southern Naval Command deployed a specialist Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team. The team found that a projectile had pierced the vessel's hull, passed through multiple structural compartments, and become embedded inside a fuel storage tank, posing significant risks.
Naval specialists implemented safety protocols and used advanced diagnostic techniques to identify and isolate the warhead's detonation mechanism before proceeding with its extraction. The unexploded missile warhead, along with associated debris, has since been moved to a secure facility for storage and further examination. The operation highlighted the Indian Navy's technical expertise and maritime response capabilities.