On March 1, 2026, two people were killed and up to four injured in an alleged Iranian drone strike on the MV Skylight oil tanker, which was anchored approximately five nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman. The ship’s captain, Ashish Kumar, and crew member, Dalip Singh, were killed in the alleged strike, and four crew members were reportedly injured. The names and conditions of the injured victims are currently unknown.

In its daily briefing released at 17:00 UTC on March 1, 2026, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre posted on X/Twitter that at 09:00 UTC that day, it “received a report of an incident 2NM north of Kumzar, Oman” which pertained to the MV Skylight oil tanker. According to X/Twitter account, @MarineTraffic, “the last signal [from the vessel] was received at 03:00 UTC.” @MarineTraffic also posted a timelapse video of Skylight’s geographic position from 11:15 UTC on February 28 until its last signal the next day. The map shows that the ship remained relatively stationary throughout that period and that “the crew boat Panicker arrived at the incident a few hours” after Skylight was allegedly hit. On Telegram, user @supernova_plus shared two videos, both of which appear to have been shot from a lifeboat, showing dark plumes of smoke rising from a large ship and wrote “Strait of Hormuz: the kamikaze drone Geranium-2 attacked the oil tanker Skylight.” This type of Iranian-designed weapon is also known as a HESA Shahed 136 drone.

The UKMTO Centre later published an update on the incident, stating that “Skylight (IMO 9330020) [was] attacked 5NM north of Khasab, Oman, while at anchor.” According to this report, “the vessel caught fire, and four of the 20 crew members (15 Indian nationals and 5 Iranians) were injured. The entire crew was later evacuated.” Similarly, the Oman Security Center announced via X/Twitter “that four crew members sustained injuries of varying severity and have been transferred to receive necessary medical treatment.” In its record of ‘Highlighted (confirmed) incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the Middle East,’ the International Maritime Organization (IMO) lists “four seafarers injured, one seafarer fatality, [and] one seafarer missing” as a result of the alleged March 1 attack on the MV Skylight.

On March 5, 2026, Indian news outlet, The Federal, reported that “two Indian nationals were killed in an attack on … oil tanker, MV Skylight, in the Gulf of Oman on March 1, amid heightened tensions between US-Israel and Iran” and announced that “the victims have been identified as Captain Ashish Kumar from Bihar and crew member Dalip Singh from Rajasthan.” According to The Times of Oman, “Captain Ashish Kumar and crewman Dalip Singh went missing initially but were confirmed dead, marking India’s first verified casualties as Iran now controls Strait passage and bans allied vessels.” In a March 22 interview with NDTV, surviving crew member, Bikran Ghosh, described the alleged bombing, saying that “at 7 am, we had a drone attack…I opened the door and saw black smoke spreading and I was in panic.” He notes that upon reaching a “safe zone,” the crew did a head count and realized that two people, both Indian nationals, were missing: Captain Ashish Kumar and Dalip Singh.

According to NDTV, “Captain Ashish Kumar, a resident of Bettiah in Bihar, was the eldest of three brothers.” He was also a husband and the father of a five-year-old son. The news outlet described Dalip Singh as “a young man from Nagaur…who was reportedly in the bow of the ship, working alongside Captain Ashish Kumar at that time” of the alleged strike.

Early on, there appeared to be some discrepancies regarding the victims’ identities, as a March 5 article from NDTV reported that “two Indians have been killed in an attack on an oil tanker ‘Skylight’…: Captain Ashish Kumar from Bihar and Dixit Solanki from Mumbai. Dalip Singh, a crew member from Rajasthan working on the same ship, has been reported missing.” However, according to The Federal, “Dixit Solanki (25) from Diu, was killed on board another oil tanker, MKD Vyom.” Since then, numerous articles from India’s top news outlets, including The Times of India, NDTV, and Indian Express, have reported that Dixit Solanki was killed on the other vessel (MKD Vyom). Therefore, Airwars has determined that Ashish Kumar and Dalip Singh were the two people killed by the alleged drone strike on the Skylight oil tanker.

The ship’s registration status has also been a point of debate. Various sources, including the Oman Maritime Security Center, Gulf News, the United States Department of the Treasury and others referred to the ship as flying the flag of Palau. However, according to Palauan news outlet, Island Times, quoting the Palau Ship Registry, “the vessel was removed from the Palau registry in January 2026 in accordance with the Registry’s established compliance procedures and applicable regulatory requirements…[and] was not registered with the Palau Ship Registry at the time of the reported incident.”

Information made available by Equasis lists the Skylight’s flag as “unknown” and lists its registered owner as Red Sea Ship Management LLC as of December 18, 2025, and as such, the flag has been recorded as “unknown”. This will be updated should official information become available.

On December 18, 2025, the United States Department of the Treasury also announced new sanctions against Red Sea Ship Management LLC and its owner, UAE-based Egyptian shipping businessman Hatem Elsaid Farid Ibrahim Sakr, with the Skylight vessel “being identified as blocked property in which Red Sea Ship Management LLC has an interest.” According to the announcement, “The Skylight, previously known as the Al Moustafa, was acquired by Sakr in June 2023. Immediately after acquiring the vessel, the Skylight was used for a ship-to-ship transfer of Iranian condensate.”

Sources did not name a belligerent responsible for the incident and as such the strike status has been recorded as ‘contested’ and the three main parties to the conflict – Iran, Israel, and U.S. Forces – have been recorded as possible belligerents. This will be updated should additional information become available.