NEW DELHI: Three Indian seafarers, initially reported missing, have died after their vessel came under attack by US military forces off the coast of Oman earlier this week, Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal confirmed. The vessel, named Settebello, was carrying a total crew of 28 members—including 24 Indian nationals and four foreign nationals from Pakistan, Ukraine, and Russia—when it was targeted in the volatile Gulf of Oman. The deceased Indian sailors have been identified as deck cadet Aditya Sharma, engine fitter Shivanand Chaurasiya, and chief engineer Patnala Suresh.
Following the kinetic action, the ship’s management company has encountered immense challenges in establishing a stable network connection with the surviving crew members remaining on board. The tragic casualties occurred after US Central Command forces deployed precision munitions to strike the Palau-flagged oil tanker for allegedly violating an active embargo on Iranian oil infrastructure. India sharply condemned the incident, underscoring that 24 of its citizens faced direct military fire from the US Navy while transiting the region. New Delhi expressed deep concern over the geopolitical spillover, reiterating its urgent call for an immediate de-escalation of the wider Middle East conflict.
The US Central Command later acknowledged the aerial strike, asserting that the tanker violated the current US maritime blockade of Iranian ports by attempting to transport crude oil from Iran. Officials stated that an American warplane fired upon the tanker in the Gulf of Oman, successfully disabling the vessel. In a detailed post on social media platform X, US Central Command identified the Palau-flagged Settebello and stated that the vessel’s crew had repeatedly failed to comply with direct maritime orders issued by American forces.
India Lodges Protest
In response to the fatal military intervention, India summoned Washington’s charge d’affaires in New Delhi to officially lodge a “strong protest” over the kinetic operation, a senior Indian government official told news agency AFP. The strategic Strait of Hormuz, a critical global choke point for international fuel supplies, has remained almost completely blocked since the outbreak of the regional Middle East war, which escalated following US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.
Recent rounds of diplomatic talks conducted during a fragile ceasefire failed to deliver an agreement to reopen the strategic shipping lane. While Iran has enforced its own blockade on the waterway since the start of the war, the United States has strictly implemented its own competing blockade since April. Earlier, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency flagged the crisis 20 nautical miles northeast of Sohar in Oman, stating the ship reported one initial casualty and two missing crew members due to an engine room fire. British maritime security firm Vanguard Tech added that the Settebello had transmitted an emergency distress call confirming a missile strike to its engine room, which matches reports from Monday when Omani authorities successfully airlifted 24 Indian sailors off the burning vessel.
ലഘു വിവരണം
ഒമാൻ തീരത്ത് വച്ച് ഇറാനിൽ നിന്നുള്ള എണ്ണക്കടത്ത് ഉപരോധം ലംഘിച്ചു എന്ന് ആരോപിച്ച് പലാവു പതാകയുള്ള കപ്പലിന് നേരെ അമേരിക്ക നടത്തിയ മിസൈലാക്രമണത്തിൽ മൂന്ന് ഇന്ത്യൻ നാവികർ കൊല്ലപ്പെട്ടു. 24 ഇന്ത്യക്കാരുൾപ്പെടെ 28 ജീവനക്കാരുണ്ടായിരുന്ന ‘സെറ്റെബെല്ലോ’ എന്ന കപ്പലിന് നേരെയാണ് യുഎസ് യുദ്ധവിമാനം വെടിയുതിർത്തത്. സംഭവത്തെ ശക്തമായി അപലപിച്ച ഇന്ത്യ, യുഎസ് നാവികസേനയുടെ നടപടിക്കെതിരെ ഡൽഹിയിലെ അമേരിക്കൻ നയതന്ത്ര പ്രതിനിധിയെ വിളിച്ചുവരുത്തി കടുത്ത പ്രതിഷേധം രേഖപ്പെടുത്തുകയും മേഖലയിൽ സമാധാനം പുനഃസ്ഥാപിക്കാൻ ആവശ്യപ്പെടുകയും ചെയ്തു.
(With inputs from NDTV)
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