US military forces struck three oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman over three days ending Thursday, killing at least three Indian sailors and prompting India’s government to summon the deputy head of the US embassy in New Delhi in an escalating diplomatic protest.
US Central Command, known as Centcom, confirmed Thursday morning that a US aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of the tanker Jalveer after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions. The vessel was laden with cargo and had violated the blockade against Iran by attempting to transport Iranian oil, Centcom said. The 20 Indian crew members aboard were safely evacuated with the assistance of the Royal Navy of Oman, according to Indian authorities.
Satellite imagery analyzed by BBC Verify showed smoke billowing from the Jalveer after the strike. Ship tracking data shows the vessel had sailed between the Gulf and several Indian ports over the past year, and it had not been sanctioned by the US for links to Iran.
The Jalveer strike came a day after three Indian sailors were killed when the US fired precision munitions into the engine room of the tanker Settebello on Wednesday. India’s shipping minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, called the incident deeply unfortunate and said the three bodies would be quickly repatriated.
The company that manages the Settebello, IOS Marine FZE, said it categorically denies the ship ignored directions from US forces and that it has no affiliation with Iran or Iranian oil. No contact whatsoever was made with the vessel, the company said, calling on the US to release evidence of its communications with the ship.
The Settebello, owned by the Indian company Aqua Aurora Shipping Lines, has not been sanctioned by the US but is on the sanctions list of the campaign group United Against Nuclear Iran, which says the vessel has been involved in transporting Iranian crude oil. Ship tracking data shows the Settebello sailed from the Gulf to the Chinese port cities of Zhoushan and Lianyungang over the past six months. The vessel’s location tracker has been inactive since May 31, and IOS Marine FZE said the ship had been stationary for about 10 days before the strike.
On Monday, the tanker Marivex was struck by a US F-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which fired a precision munition into the ship’s engineering and steering spaces, Centcom confirmed. The US has sanctioned the Marivex for links with Iran under a previous name, Arihant, and accused the ship of transporting hundreds of thousands of barrels of Iranian fuel oil and bitumen within the Gulf since July 2025.
Distress calls obtained by BBC Verify from the Forward Seamen’s Union of India captured crew members pleading for help as the ship caught fire and began sinking. A Royal Air Force of Oman helicopter later lifted the crew from the ship’s deck, according to flight tracking data and video verified by BBC Verify.
The US military has been blockading Iranian ports since April 13 after Tehran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies are usually transported. Centcom says it has disabled nine vessels and redirected 135 more since the blockade began.
The attacks have sparked concern in India about the safety of its nearly 300,000 seafarers, who constitute one of the largest maritime workforces in the world. Harsh V Pant of the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi said that while seafarers are not completely detached from the realities of global trade, they are often the stakeholders with the least influence over geopolitical decisions and the greatest exposure to their consequences.
India’s foreign ministry summoned the deputy head of the US embassy in Delhi to lodge an official protest after the killings, and the government condemned the attacks, saying the targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must end.
The Forward Seamen’s Union of India said Thursday that seafarers are workers, not soldiers, and that the international community cannot remain a silent spectator while seafarers are forced to navigate through conditions resembling a war zone. More than 18,000 Indian seafarers are in the Gulf region, and 13 Indian-flagged vessels remain stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, according to India’s shipping ministry.