Three Indian sailors killed in US strike on oil tanker
CentcomThree Indian sailors have been confirmed killed after the US military struck a tanker in the Gulf of Oman which it accused of violating its blockade on Iranian ports.
The MT Settebello came under attack on Wednesday, with 24 Indian crew on board, of whom 21 were rescued. In a post on X, India's Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the three men's bodies would be brought home soon.
The US has struck three ships in the Gulf this week, all with Indian crew on board.
On Thursday, Delhi said all 20 crew on the Jalveer were safe after a strike off Oman. Three days earlier the 24 Indian crew on sanctioned oil tanker the Marivex were rescued before it sank. Centcom confirmed it struck both ships.
India's Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Additional Secretary Mukesh Mangal said the three seamen on board the Settebello who died were Aditya Sharma, a cadet, Shivanand Chaurashiya, a fitter, and Patnala Suresh, a chief engineer.
In a post on X, the US Central Command said one of its aircraft fired "precision munitions" into the engine room of the tanker "after the crew repeatedly failed" to follow directions.
On Monday, US forces hit The Marivex, also a Palau-flagged oil tanker, in the Gulf of Oman after it failed to comply with US instructions, Centcom said. All 24 crew were rescued by the Omani military, Indian authorities said.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said when the Palau-flagged Settebello was struck, India "lodged a strong protest" with the US.
"We called in the American CDA [chargé d'affaires] and informed them of our deepest concerns about the ongoing incidents of attacks," he added.
But on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs Additional Secretary Aseem Mahajan said a third vessel - the Guinea-Bissau-flagged MT Jalveer - had come under attack in the vicinity of Shinas port in Oman.
He said the Royal Navy of Oman was helping evacuate the crew.
Although the three vessels involved in incidents were foreign-flagged, a majority of their crew were Indians.
Rajesh Sharma, father of Aditya Sharma, a cadet on board the Settebello who died in the strike, told the BBC that the family was waiting for his body to be returned to them.
He said his son was due to return home in May, but his duty got extended. He added that he had last spoken to his son on Sunday.
He questioned why the captain of the tanker chose to go near the Strait of Hormuz and called for an inquiry.
"Who is responsible for the deaths [of the three Indian sailors]? The circumstances that led to the deaths must be investigated," he said.
The US military blocked access to Iran's ports after Tehran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which some 20% of the world's oil and gas supplies are transported, during the ongoing conflict.
US forces have disabled eight vessels and redirected 134 others since initiating the blockade on 13 April, according to Centcom.
The Indian government has maintained that "targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must end".
Manoj Yadav, general secretary of the Forward Seamen's Union of India (FSUI) had earlier told the BBC that they had begun reaching out to the families of the sailors to inform them about their deaths.
Yadav told The Economic Times newspaper that he "refused to believe" that the US lacked information regarding the nationalities of the people on board those ships.
"If the ships failed to heed their instructions, detaining them was a viable alternative," he said.
According to India's shipping ministry, there are at present 562 Indian seafarers on Indian-flagged vessels, including 329 in the Gulf region, west of Hormuz, and 233 in the Gulf of Oman, east of Hormuz.
"There are more than 18,000 Indian seafarers in total in the whole Gulf region," Mangal said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, tensions between Iran and the US show no sign of easing. Both countries have exchanged strikes for a second consecutive day, putting more strain on a fragile ceasefire arrived upon in April.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump had threatened to hit Iran "hard", saying it was taking too long to sign a peace deal and was playing Americans "for suckers".
The war began on 28 February, after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran that killed the country's supreme leader.
Iran responded by launching attacks on Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf. The fighting escalated quickly across the region, with Lebanon drawn into the conflict in March.