The United States military has struck and disabled an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, killing two Indian sailors and leaving a third missing, in an incident that has prompted a sharp diplomatic protest from New Delhi. US Central Command (Centcom) said an aircraft fired "precision munitions" into the engine room of the Palau-flagged MT Settebello on Wednesday, June 10, after the crew "repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces". Centcom said the vessel had violated a US naval blockade by "attempting to transport oil from Iran". Of the roughly 24 Indian crew members on board, 21 were rescued; the Forward Seamen's Union of India later identified the dead as Aditya Sharma, a deck cadet, and Shivanand Chaurasiya, an engine fitter, while chief engineer Patnala Suresh remains missing. India's government had initially described all three as missing.
India summoned the US Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi, Jason Meeks, to lodge a "strong protest". India's Ministry of External Affairs called the incident "deeply worrisome" and said it was "a direct result of the ongoing conflict in the region", demanding that "the targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must end". The attack on the Settebello was the second in three days involving a vessel crewed predominantly by Indians: on June 8, US forces struck the Palau-flagged MT Marivex in the same waters, with all 24 Indian sailors aboard subsequently rescued by Omani authorities.
The strikes are part of a broader US naval blockade of Iranian ports, initiated on April 13. Centcom says American forces have disabled eight vessels and redirected 134 others since the blockade began. The blockade was imposed after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow waterway roughly 38 kilometres wide at its narrowest point, through which approximately one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass. The closure followed the outbreak of conflict on February 28, when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran that killed the country's supreme leader. Iran retaliated with attacks on Israel and US-allied Gulf states, drawing Lebanon into the fighting by March.
A fragile ceasefire agreed in April has been under severe strain. US President Donald Trump has accused Tehran of taking too long to finalise a peace agreement, while Iran has accused the US of violating the ceasefire terms. The Gulf of Oman, lying just outside the Strait of Hormuz along Oman's northeastern coast, has become a focal point for repeated incidents involving commercial shipping under both the US and Iranian blockades. Despite the violence, Oman has continued to serve as a diplomatic back-channel between Washington and Tehran.
The Settebello, listed as a sanctioned vessel by maritime tracking services, had reportedly called at Chinese ports in March and April before the attack. Maritime intelligence firm Lloyd's List noted the tanker had been among several vessels held by the US Navy off Duqm, a port on Oman's southern coast. The episode underlines the mounting human cost of the conflict on international merchant crews, and intensifies pressure on both sides to revive stalled negotiations.