Two of the three missing Indian seafarers on the commercial vessel Settebello, attacked by the US confirmed dead; one seafarer remains missing

Three Indian seafarers had gone missing after a US strike on the commercial vessel Settebello off the Oman coast.
Commercial vessel Settebello which was attacked by the US (Images via X/@FSUIINDIA)

Out of the three Indian seafarers who had gone missing after a US missile attack on the commercial vessel Settebello off the coast of Oman on Wednesday (10th June), two have died, as confirmed by the general secretary of the Forward Seamen’s Union of India (FSUI), Manoj Yadav. Meanwhile, the third seafarer remains missing.

The three missing seafarers were identified as Deck Cadet Aditya Sharma, Engine Fitter Shivanand Chaurasiya, and Chief Engineer Patnala Suresh. Aditya Sharma and Shivanand Chaurasiya have been confirmed dead, while Patnala Suresh is still missing.

Deck Cadet Aditya Sharma’s father, Rajesh Sharma, had posted a comment on journalist Aditya Raj Kaul’s post informing about the US attack on the vessel on X on Wednesday. In the comment, Rajesh Sharma said that Aditya Sharma, who is one of the three Indian seafarers who have gone missing after the US strike, is his son. He sought help in locating his son. Sharma also said that his son had reported exploitation by a senior on the ship and that he wanted to quit the ship in April this year.

The US military had carried out a precision attack on Settebello in the Gulf of Oman, claiming that the vessel did not follow its instructions and was carrying oil from Iran. The US has put a blockade on all Iran-related shipping since 13th April after Iran blocked the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

India strongly condemned the attack and summoned the US Charge d’Affaires, Jason Meeks, to hand over a demarche over the strike. A statement was issued by the Ministry of External Affairs the same day, which stated that out of the 24 Indian nationals on board the vessel, 21 were rescued. The Indian Embassy in Oman has been closely coordinating with Omani authorities for the ongoing search and rescue operation.

This is the second US attack following a similar strike on another Palau-flagged tanker, MT Marivex, on which 24 Indian crew members were present. All the Indian crew members were successfully rescued by the Omani forces with no casualties.

The repeated attacks on vessels amid the ongoing US-Israel-Iran war have raised serious questions about the safety of Indian seafarers operating in the Gulf of Oman region.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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