External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has lodged a strong protest with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over US Navy attacks in the Gulf that killed three mariners from India, intensifying New Delhi’s objections to military action against commercial shipping near Oman.
Jaishankar told Rubio during a call on Friday evening that lethal action against commercial vessels was “not justified”, after the Palau-flagged tanker MT Settebello was hit off Oman amid US enforcement operations linked to the Iran conflict. The attack left three crew members dead and brought renewed scrutiny to the risks faced by civilian seafarers in one of the world’s most sensitive maritime corridors.
The deaths have been identified as those of Chief Engineer Patnala Suresh, Deck Cadet Aditya Sharma and fitter Shivanand Chaurasia. Twenty-one other crew members from the vessel were rescued by Omani authorities after the attack. The tanker had 24 crew members from India on board when it was struck near the Strait of Hormuz, a channel through which a large share of the world’s seaborne oil trade passes.
New Delhi had already summoned the US chargé d’affaires, Jason Meeks, to register its protest over the strike and over continuing attacks on merchant vessels carrying crew from India. The Ministry of External Affairs said the use of force against commercial shipping was unacceptable and had led to the avoidable loss of lives. The ministry has also been coordinating with authorities in Oman and with maritime agencies to assist survivors and ensure the return of bodies to families.
The US military has defended its operations by saying targeted vessels were suspected of violating a blockade on Iranian oil shipments and had failed to respond to instructions. Ship managers and maritime representatives have challenged parts of that account and have pressed for an independent investigation into the circumstances in which a civilian tanker was disabled at sea.
The Settebello attack has sharpened a difficult diplomatic moment for India-US relations. New Delhi has maintained close strategic ties with Washington across defence, technology and trade, but the deaths of civilians at sea have placed the government under political pressure to seek accountability. Opposition leaders and seafarers’ unions have questioned whether enough was done to protect crew members working on foreign-flagged vessels in the Gulf.
The Forward Seamen’s Union of India has demanded a full international inquiry, saying mariners should not be treated as combatants in military operations. Families of the deceased have also sought answers on whether warnings were received by the vessel, why it remained in a danger zone, and whether the crew had adequate time to evacuate before the strike.
The International Maritime Organization has condemned the attack and warned that seafarers must not become targets. Its secretary-general has described the Strait of Hormuz environment as highly volatile and said there is no commercial justification for putting crews in danger when regional hostilities are escalating.
The incident has exposed the vulnerability of the global merchant fleet at a time when shipping companies are already rerouting vessels, raising insurance cover and reassessing crew deployment in high-risk waters. Freight operators face mounting costs as war-risk premiums rise and underwriters reassess exposure across the Gulf of Oman, the Strait of Hormuz and adjacent approaches.
India has a major stake in the issue because its citizens form a significant part of the international maritime workforce. More than 300,000 seafarers from the country serve on ships worldwide, many of them on tankers, bulk carriers and container vessels that move through conflict-prone waters. Any prolonged disruption in the Gulf could affect not only families dependent on seafaring incomes but also energy flows, cargo schedules and insurance conditions for vessels linked to South Asian crews.
The attack took place against the backdrop of an expanding US-Iran confrontation, with Washington seeking to restrict Tehran’s oil revenues and Iran warning against interference in Gulf shipping. Commercial vessels have increasingly been drawn into the pressure campaign, despite long-standing international norms that protect civilian crews and merchant shipping during armed conflict.
