New Delhi: An attack on the MV Cape Dao near the Strait of Hormuz killed one of the Indian mariners on board the commercial vessel on Wednesday (September 23). New Delhi condemned the incident and said that the targeting of merchant ships and civilians in West Asia must stop.It did not say who carried out the attack, which took place off the coast of Oman’s Musandam governorate near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in Delhi said that the deceased individual was among a total of 20 Indian nationals aboard the Cape Dao. Omani authorities said they rescued 27 people from the vessel.Union shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal identified the deceased as Suraj Yadav, a wiper hailing from Uttar Pradesh, and said he had succumbed to head injuries inflicted by the attack.“We condemn the attack on the commercial vessel MV Cape Dao earlier today off the east coast of Oman … The continuing incidents of attacks on commercial shipping in the region are deeply worrisome,” the MEA said on Wednesday night. It condoled Yadav’s death and thanked Omani authorities for their support.The ministry reiterated its call for dialogue and diplomacy as a means to de-escalation and achieving peace in the region. “The targeting of commercial shipping, seafarers and civilian infrastructure in the region must end, and free and unimpeded navigation and commerce through the international waterways in the region must be restored at the earliest.”Following the incident, the Forward Seamen’s Union of India wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to ensure the repatriation of Yadav’s remains to his hometown of Deoria, the setting up of a national crisis management team under the PMO, naval escorts and rapid response support for Indian seafarers in West Asia as well as the Black Sea, and the tracing of mariners who are still missing.Wednesday’s incident comes just ten days after the MT El Gaia commercial vessel was attacked off Oman’s coast, which rendered one of the 14 Indians aboard missing.Thirteen Indian seafarers have been killed amid the ongoing West Asia crisis set off by the US and Israel’s strikes on Iran seven months ago.