The MV Dara was a Dubai based passenger liner, built at a shipbuilding yard in Scotland during 1948. The vessel travelled mostly between the Persian Gulf and the Indian subcontinent, carrying expatriate passengers who were employed in the Gulf States. The MV Dara sank in the Persian Gulf on 8 April 1961, as a result of a powerful explosion that caused the deaths of 238 of the 819 persons on board at the time of the voyage, including 19 officers and 113 crew.