India had already summoned the US Chargé d’Affaires on Wednesday following the attack on MT Settebello, but the second summoning marked a further hardening of New Delhi’s position after confirmation of the fatalities.
The deaths come amid a troubling pattern of attacks on merchant shipping in the region. On June 8, MT Marivex, carrying 24 Indian nationals, was reportedly struck by US forces after allegedly attempting to proceed towards an Iranian port despite a naval blockade. All crew members were rescued by Omani authorities.
A day later, MT Settebello came under attack, resulting in the deaths of three Indian sailors.
On Thursday, another commercial vessel, MT Jalveer, reportedly came under attack near Shinas port off the Omani coast, with initial reports suggesting around 20 Indian crew members were on board, although details remain unclear.
The three attacks in four days have exposed the growing risks faced by Indian seafarers as tensions between the United States and Iran spill into some of the world’s busiest and most strategically important shipping lanes.
Maritime analysts note that two of the vessels involved, MT Marivex and MT Settebello, have reportedly been linked to sanctions-evasion networks and the so-called “grey fleet” or “dark fleet”, vessels accused of transporting oil outside conventional monitoring systems.
Such ships are often alleged to operate with limited transparency and, in some cases, switch off their Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), making them more vulnerable to scrutiny and interception in a region that is already heavily militarised.
