The Indian Navy has averted a major maritime accident by safely removing a missile stuck in an oil tanker. The Defense Ministry said in a statement issued on June 11 that on May 26, the Marshall Islands-flagged MT Olympic Life Tanker was attacked off the coast of Oman. The missile did not explode, but penetrated the outer part of the tanker and got stuck in the fuel tank. Despite this the tanker did not stop and reached Kochi after traveling about 2,000 kilometers in the Arabian Sea. After this, the Indian Navy carried out a high-risk operation and took out the warhead. The tanker was coming to Kochi from Fujairah. The tanker was coming to Kochi from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). There was no Indian citizen in the tanker. Despite the attack, the tanker continued its journey and later informed authorities of the stranded missile warhead. After this, action was started through the Information Fusion Center-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) based in Gurugram. Kochi-based Southern Naval Command deployed a team of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) experts. The warhead was stuck inside the fuel tank. Investigation revealed that the warhead of the missile was stuck inside the fuel tank of the tanker. There was a large amount of crude oil at the place where the missile was stuck. In such a situation, an explosion could have caused a major accident. This could have caused huge damage to the ship, crew and port. The Navy's EOD team completed this operation in several phases with caution. First the explosive system of the missile was detected and neutralized. After this the warhead and its associated debris were safely taken out of the tanker. ----------------------------- Also read this news... Test of Multi-Layered Ballistic Defense System successful: India is the 5th country to acquire this technology to shoot down a missile coming at a speed of 5000km. India can now counter the threats of long-range ballistic missiles, even intercontinental ballistic missiles. DRDO conducted three consecutive flight tests on June 10 and 11, demonstrating the multi-layered Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system. Read the full news…