Claim: A video shows Pakistan’s navy rescuing an Indian vessel in the Arabian Sea in May 2026.
Fact: Pakistan’s navy did assist the MV Gautam on 5 May, but the clip is old, appearing online as early as February 2023.
A Facebook user posted a reel linking it to a recent rescue operation by the Pakistani Navy in May 2026.
The caption states: “Talk [sic] Navy’s rescue operation in Arabian Sea provided emergency assistance to six Indian and one Indonesian crew members. All the crew members were saved. Allah surprised the world by performing this feat in Pakistan.
The Urdu text appearing at the top also states the same.
Earlier this month, Pakistan’s navy assisted the Indian vessel MV Gautam, which was stranded in the Arabian Sea due to a technical failure. Six Indians and one Indonesian crew member were aboard the stranded vessel.
Therefore, this article only fact-checks the video itself, not the accompanying caption.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes of the video and found that it is unrelated to the recent rescue operation by the Pakistani Navy earlier this month.
A TikTok user posted the same clip on 9 November 2025 (archive).
However, information displayed under “About this image” by Google, as a result of the reverse-search, suggested that the footage was even older and from at least three years ago.
“About this image,” which provides information about the origins of media.
Then, further searches yielded a fact-check by Misbar, an Arab fact-checking platform, which debunked the same footage on 6 May 2026 in its article, titled, “[translated from Arabic: Is the video of the Pakistani navy rescuing the crew of an Indian ship in the Arabian Sea?]”
Misbar found the clip had been uploaded on YouTube on 15 February 2023 by a user named “Sameer Abbas Journalist”. Soch Fact Check also reviewed the YouTube post, titled: “Naval Exercise AMAN 2023: Arabian Sea: Samarabbas #pakistan”. The visual below shows that this YouTube video matches the clip being factchecked.
Left: Footage circulating online in May 2026. Right: a YouTube video from 15 February 2023.
“Aman 2023”, mentioned in the YouTube caption, is a maritime naval exercise organised by Pakistan and held in February 2023, in which 50 countries participated. It is a biennial event with the aim of promoting a safe maritime environment.
Although Soch Fact Check cannot confirm the exact origins of the video, it is likely that the clip depicts naval exercises held in February 2023.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes the video is unrelated to the recent rescue of MV Gautam.
Virality
The video appeared on Facebook here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On Instagram, users shared it here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
It appeared on X here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
The Wire, an Indian news site, also shared this footage on Instagram and X.
On YouTube, the video was shared with the claim here.
Conclusion: The video does not show Pakistan’s navy rescuing the stranded Indian vessel MV Gautam in May 2026. The footage is old and appeared online as early as February 2023.
Background image in cover photo: Global Defense Insight
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com