Seafarer killed as capesize Cape Dao is struck and left adrift in Hormuz
Two projectiles hit the 2002-built bulker off Musandam; Oman's navy took off the 27 surviving crew
A seafarer has been killed after the capesize bulk carrier Cape Dao (IMO 9219020) was struck while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on 23 September. The attack started a fire in the engine room and left the ship adrift.
UK Maritime Trade Operations reported that the ship was hit by an unknown projectile at around 06:30 UTC off Oman's Musandam peninsula, and initially reported two casualties. Oman's Maritime Security Center put the position about 2.5 nautical miles from Musandam Governorate. A Royal Navy of Oman vessel evacuated the 27 surviving crew members and gave them medical care.
The Antigua and Barbuda-registered ship was built in 2002 and is of about 170,000 dwt. She is managed from the United Arab Emirates and was sailing from Mina Saqr in the UAE towards India with 28 crew on board, 20 of them Indian nationals.
India's Forward Seamen's Union identified the dead crew member as Suraj Yadav, a 26-year-old wiper from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh. The union said the ship was struck twice on her port side: one projectile hit the C-deck accommodation, the other the hull near the engine room. India's embassy in Oman confirmed the death of an Indian national and said it was coordinating with Omani authorities over the safety of the 19 other Indian crew.
"He was a civilian seafarer, not a combatant," the union said. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi it asked for Yadav's repatriation and compensation for his family, a 24-hour crisis management team drawing on government and unions, and naval presence and escorts for Indian crews on Indian- and foreign-flagged ships around Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea and the Black Sea. It has called for people to wear black ribbons on 25 September.
The strike was the third on merchant shipping in the strait in three days. On 21 September the crude tanker LR Stephanie was hit by an unidentified projectile, injuring two seafarers, and the LPG carrier Al Maryah was struck by debris while outbound. Both continued their voyages.
Before this attack the IMO had confirmed 23 seafarer deaths in and around the strait since the conflict began. Its Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez, and the International Chamber of Shipping's Thomas Kazakos have both called on governments to protect freedom of navigation. The attack came the day after President Donald Trump, addressing the United Nations, threatened further military action against Iran if no agreement is reached.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 26 September 2026.
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