Royal Navy of Oman

The Royal Navy of Oman is the naval service of the Sultanate of Oman, with about 4,200 personnel. Its main base is Said bin Sultan Naval Base at Wudam Al Sahil, near Al-Musannah, which opened in 1988 and houses the Sultan Qaboos Naval Academy. Its principal warships are three British-built Khareef-class corvettes, Al Shamikh, Al Rahmani and Al Rasikh, of about 2,660 tonnes each, alongside patrol vessels, amphibious ships and auxiliaries.

Oman's coast runs along the southern shore of the strait of Hormuz and the Musandam approaches to it, so these ships sit on the busiest oil route in the world without belonging to any Coalition task force. Where the fleet reaches counts for more here than how large it is.

Oman is the neutral party in this conflict and the long-standing channel between Tehran and Washington. That neutrality is what makes its navy the rescue service of first resort in waters where attacks have produced no claimant: a neutral flag can take injured crews off a stricken hull without the act carrying an attribution.