CREW members of a tanker carrying 20 Indians were evacuated on Thursday after the vessel came under attack off Oman’s Shinas port, Indian officials said. This was the third instance of a merchant ship with Indian crew members coming under attack from the American military off the coast of Oman in the last four days. One of the attacks killed three Indian seafarers. “Evacuation of crew from MT Jalveer to Shinas port is being coordinated with assistance from Royal Navy of Oman, and shall soon be completed,” the Indian Embassy in Muscat said in a post on X. Earlier, the mission had said it was “closely monitoring” an incident involving a vessel off Shinas port and was coordinating with local authorities for details. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) later confirmed that the ship had come under attack. “These attacks came from the US Navy that is stationed there,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing in New Delhi while responding to a question on the incidents involving the vessels. It was the first public acknowledgement of the US Navy targeting ships with Indian crew. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said MT Jalveer had 20 Indian seafarers on board, and all were reported to be safe. The US Central Command said in a statement that it disabled the Guinea-Bissau-flagged MT Jalveer for allegedly violating its blockade against Iran by attempting to transport Iranian oil.

 

It said a US aircraft struck the vessel’s engine room after the crew “repeatedly failed to comply with directions from US forces”. The latest incident came a day after a commercial vessel - identified as the Palau-flagged MT Settebello - came under attack off the Oman coast. India subsequently summoned the US charge d’affaires and registered a strong protest over the incident. Settebello had 24 Indian crew members on board. Of them, 21 were rescued while three were initially reported missing. Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said on Thursday that the three Indian seafarers missing after Wednesday’s attack had been found dead. Earlier, on Monday, all 24 Indian crew members of another merchant tanker - the Palau-flagged MT Marivex - were rescued in coordination with Omani authorities following a missile attack on the vessel off the Oman coast. The MEA said two of the vessels involved in the incidents this week were operating under US sanctions, while one was in the non-compliant category. India has described the attacks on commercial vessels as “deeply worrisome” and has strongly taken up the matter with the US. The US military imposed a blockade on Iranian ports after Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which around 20 per cent of global energy supplies are transported in normal times.