Sarbananda Sonowal, India’s shipping minister, said: “It is deeply unfortunate to learn of the tragic incident aboard the Palau-flagged MT Settebello. Sadly, three Indian seafarers initially reported missing are now confirmed dead after bodies have been located and identified.”
The US CENTCOM said it disabled the Palau-flagged oil products tanker Settebello as it transited the Gulf of Oman, adding that it had “violated the ongoing blockade by attempting to transport oil from Iran”.
The ship was a tanker carrying chemical and oil products which reported an engine room fire 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman’s port of Sohar, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said.
The three Indian seafarers confirmed dead were identified as deck cadet Aditya Sharma, engine fitter Shivanand Chaurasiya, and chief engineer Patnala Suresh.
Sharma’s family has called for a full investigation into his death and asked the goverment to ensure that whoever is responsible is held accountable.
“I strongly condemn any act from any party that endangers the lives of seafarers and the safety of international shipping. This is simply unacceptable,” Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the UN’s shipping agency the International Maritime Organization, said on Wednesday after the second incident.
On June 11, a third vessel was attacked off Oman. The incident involved a tanker catching fire, with Indian crew on board, Indian authorities said.
What are India and the US saying?
India has strongly protested the loss of life and risks to its seafarers. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has lodged formal protests, including summoning US diplomats.
On Thursday, India said it expects the US to take “due note” of its formal protest against attacks on commercial vessels carrying Indian seafarers.
The MEA emphasised that the safety of civilian mariners and commercial shipping must be protected amid the escalating conflict in West Asia.
India’s shipping ministry said 13 Indian-flagged vessels are currently stranded in the Strait of Hormuz.
Related
The ministry also said that more than 18,000 Indian seafarers are currently deployed across the Gulf region, while 562 Indian seafarers are serving aboard Indian-flagged vessels operating in the affected waters.
Unions like the FSUI, via General Secretary Manoj Yadav, have highlighted distress calls.
“I absolutely refuse to believe that the US lacked information regarding the nationalities of the people on board those ships. That is simply not possible… I am 101% certain that US naval forces knew exactly how many Indians and foreign nationals were on those vessels… If the ships failed to heed their instructions, detaining them was a viable alternative…,” Yadav said, as per a report by The Wire.
Meanwhile, the US views the operations as necessary to counter Iranian efforts to control shipping through the Strait of Hormuz amid broader regional conflict.
The US CENTCOM has said that warnings were issued to the ships and the strikes were precision strikes aimed at disabling vessels that failed to follow instructions or warnings.
