NEW DELHI: Fears of American attacks are growing among thousands of Indian seafarers on duty near the Strait of Hormuz, their union said on Thursday, after three were killed in a US strike off the coast of Oman.
Twenty-four Indian crew members were aboard the Palau-flagged MT Settebello, which was hit by US forces in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday evening. The US Central Command said the motor tanker was “attempting to transport oil from Iran” and a US aircraft “fired precision munitions into the ship’s engine room.”
While the Omani navy managed to rescue 21 Indian sailors, three remained missing.
On Thursday afternoon, India’s shipping minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, announced on social media that the missing were “now confirmed dead after bodies have been located and identified.”
The victims are a chief engineer, a cadet and a fitter, according to the Forward Seamen’s Union of India, a labor union representing sailors working aboard commercial vessels.
“I spoke with the father of the cadet, and I have sent my people to meet the family of the fitter in Uttar Pradesh, and my Andhra offices were speaking with the family of the chief engineer,” Manoj Yadav, the FSUI’s secretary-general, told Arab News.
“They are still not able to believe that this happened.”
At least 20,000 Indian nationals are currently working aboard commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz region, according to the union’s data.
Three ships staffed by Indians, including the MT Settebello, have been attacked by American forces this week alone, according to the Indian Embassy in Oman.
The attacks come amid an escalation between the US and Iran.
While in the beginning of the war in March, Indians mostly feared drone attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, “now, they have a fear of being attacked by a missile from US naval forces,” Yadav said.
“If the vessel is sanctioned, or if the vessel is blocked, and it is a shadow (fleet) vessel, then it is the duty of the US to take control of that vessel and remove all the seafarers, and evacuate all the seafarers safely to go back home. Why attack innocent people who are not carrying weapons or anything dangerous to their military?”
CENTCOM claimed that US forces had fired on the MT Settebello after “the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces.”
The ship’s UAE-based manager IOS Marine denied there was any communication before the attack, rejected claims of association with Iran, and demanded an international investigation.
“No warning call, message, or communication was ever successfully established with the vessel prior to the actions taken against it,” the company said in a statement.
“The Motor Tanker SETTEBELLO holds no affiliation whatsoever with Iran or Iranian oil. The vessel was a civilian merchant vessel engaged in legitimate commercial operations and should be viewed as such.
“Any assertions to the contrary are rejected and should be subjected to independent scrutiny as part of a transparent international investigation.”
