Sohar, Oman—A catastrophic explosion ripped through the engine room and cargo spaces of a Guinea-Bissau-flagged asphalt tanker Thursday afternoon, leaving three Indian seafarers dead. The vessel, MV Jalveer, was transiting roughly twenty-one nautical miles northeast of Sohar when the blast occurred, sending a massive plume of black smoke over the Strait of Hormuz. Emergency distress calls went out to regional maritime agencies at 1:15 p.m., triggering an immediate multi-national response.

Omani coast guard vessels and naval units scrambled to the scene to rescue survivors from the burning hull. There were twenty crew members on board, all of them Indian nationals, at the time of the incident. While seventeen sailors were safely evacuated via lifeboats and military launch craft, medical teams confirmed that three crewmen deep inside the engineering bay died instantly from the pressure wave and ensuing thermal fire.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency issued an alert shortly after the blast, confirming local reports of an active engine-room fire. Regional port authorities deployed tugs equipped with water cannons to combat the blaze, which threatened to breach the tanker's heavy bitumen storage tanks. The intense heat warped the steel superstructure of the midsection, making entry by rescue teams highly dangerous.

A maritime logistics official in Sohar stated that the ship had recently departed an undisclosed port in the Persian Gulf and was carrying highly unrefined industrial asphalt. Initial reports suggest that a sudden pressure buildup in the auxiliary boiler system ignited volatilized petroleum fumes inside the enclosed machinery space. Maintenance logs show the ship’s electrical systems had undergone emergency repairs just last week.

Surviving crew members were transported to a military medical facility in northern Oman to undergo triage for severe smoke inhalation and shock. Several sailors described a massive shudder that disabled all primary electrical power forty minutes before the secondary explosion tore through the deck plating. The shockwave knocked down internal bulkheads, blocking emergency escape trunks.

The Indian embassy in Muscat released a brief statement confirming they are coordinating with Omani authorities to identify the deceased and arrange for the repatriation of the bodies. Diplomatic staff arrived at the hospital by mid-afternoon to assist the surviving mariners with emergency documentation and clothing.

Environmental monitors monitored the waters around the listing vessel for signs of heavy oil discharge or chemical leakage. The Omani Ministry of Environment reported that while the hull remains stable for now, containment booms are being staged nearby as a precautionary measure against a structural collapse. The vessel is currently drifting slowly northwest into deep international shipping lanes.

Independent shipping registries show the twenty-year-old vessel had been flagged repeatedly during past port-state control inspections for deficiencies in its fire-fighting apparatus and automated fuel-cutoff valves. Regulators had cleared the vessel to sail after the operators patched the faulty lines, a decision now facing intense scrutiny from international maritime investigators.

Salvage tugs are currently attempting to attach tow lines to the smoking bow to pull the hull away from the primary commercial transit routes. The operation remains precarious as small, localized explosions continue to rattle the ship's fuel storage compartments, forcing the salvage teams to maintain a safe distance.