US Navy Attacked 3 Merchant Vessels With Indian Seafarers in Gulf Region; Issue Taken Up With US

India on Thursday said three merchant ships with Indian crew members came under attack from American military off the coast of Oman in the last four days resulting in the death of three nationals and it has strongly taken up the matter with the US.

It was the first public acknowledgement of US Navy targeting ships with Indian crew.

A Palau-flagged oil tanker, Marivex, carrying 24 Indian seafarers, was disabled by US forces on June 8. All crew members were safely rescued. On June 10, US struck another Palau-flagged tanker Settebello, killing three out of the 24 Indian sailors on board.

Following the attack on Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)summoned US Charge d'Affaires Jason Meeks and he was handed a demarche or diplomatic note of protest.

"We attach high importance to the welfare and well-being of our seafaring community. When this particular attack on the ship MT Settebello occurred, we lodged a strong protest with the American side," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at an inter-ministerial media briefing.

"We summoned the US Charge d'Affaires and he was conveyed our deepest concern over the ongoing incidents of attacks. We also registered our strong protest," he said.

Jaiswal emphasised that these attacks "must stop".

"We further conveyed that dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward for the peaceful resolution of the conflict, and that there should be unimpeded access through the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law," he said.

"Therefore, we made our position very clear on each of these points, while reiterating how important the lives of our people are, welfare and safety of our people are," he added.

Jaiswal said these attacks came from the US Navy that is stationed in the region.

"The three ships that have been involved in these incidents were foreign-flagged vessels. Two of them were Palau-flagged, while the third ship is Guinea-Bissau-flagged. They were not Indian-owned ships," he said.

US Central Command (Centcom) has confirmed strikes on Settebello and Marivex but is yet to comment on reported strikes on Jalveer.

Mukesh Mangal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, said evacuation of the seafarers on Jalveer has commenced.

From Settebello, all the remaining 25 crew members including 21 Indians, two Pakistani, one Russian and one Ukranian have been safely evacuated, he said, adding the Seamen Welfare Fund Society has been asked to pay Rs 10 lakh to family of each deceased.

He said more than 18,000 Indian seafarers remained in the Gulf region, including 562 crew members aboard 13 Indian-flagged ships - 329 on vessels on the west of Strait of Hormuz and 233 on vessels in Gulf of Oman.

Jaiswal said two of the three vessels were subject to sanctions administered by the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), while another had been classified as non-compliant.