9 Jun-11 Jun 2026. Three days. US military attacks three civilian ships in Hormuz, ALL with Indian crew. 3 Indians killed. The continuing Hormuz crisis has thus acquired a significant India dimension.
Confirmed US Attacks.
- 9 Jun 26. MT Marivex. Flag – Palau. 24 crew. Indian. All rescued.
- 9 Jun 26. MT Settebello. Flag – Palau. 28 crew. 24 Indian, 3 dead, 21 rescued by Omani Navy. 4 non-Indian crew – status unclear (Possibly 2 Pakistani, 1 Russian, and 1 Ukrainian). Engine room hit by US missile, off the Omani coast.
- 11 Jun 26. MT Jalveer, asphalt/bitumen tanker, struck near Shinas port of Oman. Flag – Guinea-Bissau. Hit by two U.S. Hellfire missiles. 20 crew. Indian. All rescued.
Reactions
- The US has firmly defended its military attacks on civilian shipping.
- Shipping Operator Contradicts U.S. Claims. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy73dr081p8o
- No Warning Given: iOS Marine (the operator of the MT Settebello) released a public statement denying US CENTCOM’s claims. They asserted that “no warning call, message, or communication was ever successfully established” before the US opened fire.
- They also stated that the tanker had “remained stationary at its position for approximately 10 days prior to the incident and had made no movement whatsoever during that period” – and was hence, not transitioning through the area or “engaged in any aggressive or evasive manoeuvres”.
- The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez has strongly condemned the escalation of violence in the region and explicitly labelled the attacks on civilian mariners as “simply unacceptable”.
- The IMO has called for a full and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the MT Settebello missile strike.
- India’s Diplomatic Pushback. India rejected the US operational justifications, explicitly telling the US that using deadly force against civilian ships is “unacceptable and undermines international maritime commerce”.
Bottom Line
- The issue is no longer merely about sanctions enforcement or freedom of navigation. It now concerns the safety of civilian mariners, the legality and proportionality of maritime interdiction measures, and the diplomatic fallout arising when nationals of major powers become casualties of military operations.
- Enforcement operations have many non-lethal options like physical interception, boarding, or electronic disabling.
- The deaths of three Indian seafarers have transformed a regional maritime confrontation into a matter of direct strategic concern for India. India-US relations could be impacted.
