West Champaran: An Indian merchant navy captain from Bihar has been killed after an oil tanker came under attack in the Gulf of Oman, according to his family. Captain Ashish Kumar, a resident of Bettiah in West Champaran district, was serving aboard the vessel when it was reportedly struck, triggering a fire on board.
Family members said Kumar was in the engine room when the attack occurred. The impact reportedly set parts of the tanker ablaze, trapping him inside the engine compartment. He sustained severe burn injuries and died in the fire, relatives said.
For nearly three days, Kumar’s family had believed he was missing after losing contact with him. The confirmation of his death arrived late on Wednesday night through an email, leaving the family devastated. Relatives said the news has cast a pall of grief across Bettiah, where Kumar was widely known.
“We received the message late last night. Until yesterday we believed he was missing, but today the news of his death has broken the entire family,” a family member said. The family has appealed to the government to expedite the necessary procedures in Oman and ensure that his mortal remains are brought back to India at the earliest.
Kumar’s younger brother, Akash Kumar, said he had joined the merchant navy on January 20, 2026 and was initially posted in Dubai. On February 22 he joined the oil tanker Skylight, which was travelling towards Oman and carries the IMO number 9330020. Kumar was serving as the vessel’s captain when the incident took place. According to the family, the tanker was hit by a missile believed to have been launched from Iran.
The family also expressed gratitude to Bettiah’s BJP MP, Dr Sanjay Jaiswal, for helping them gather information about the incident. They said the MP contacted authorities in Oman several times, which helped confirm the fate of the captain.
Reports indicate that three Indian nationals were killed in the attack on the tanker in the Gulf of Oman. Ashish Kumar, who lived in Shikshak Nagar in Bettiah, was the eldest of three brothers. His father, Ashok Kumar, is a lawyer and his mother, Sunita Devi, is a homemaker. He is survived by his wife Anshu Kumari and their five-year-old son, Daksh, who is still waiting for his father to return home.
