US attacks third ship with Indian sailors; crew safe
Jalveer is an asphalt tanker sailing under the flag of Guinea-Bissau. Photo credit: X/@FSUIINDIA
US forces attacked a merchant ship carrying Indian sailors for the third time in four days. Thursday’s (June 11, 2026) attack targeted a Jalveer bitumen shipment off the Guinea-Bissau-tagged port of Shinas in Oman.
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There were 20 Indian sailors on board and they were safe, said Mukesh Mangal, additional secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. “According to the latest information, the evacuation (of crews) to Shinas port has started,” Mr Mangal said at an inter-ministerial briefing on Thursday (June 11, 2026).
— US Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 11, 2026
On Wednesday (June 10, 2026), the State Department summoned US chargé d’affaires Jason Meeks and expressed “strong protest” at the attacks.
On Thursday (June 11, 2026), the ministry, while stressing that “the attacks came from the US Navy stationed there”, described the strikes as “deeply troubling” but blamed them on the ongoing US-Israeli-Iranian conflict in the region.
US Centcom said in a statement that two Hellfire missiles were fired into the Jalveer’s engine room after “the crew repeatedly failed to comply with the instructions of US forces”. The ship was attacked for “attempting to carry Iranian oil”.
US aircraft attacked Palau-flagged tankers Marivex and Settebello on Monday and Wednesday. Three Indian sailors were killed in the attack on the Settebello, the Indian government confirmed on Thursday (11 June).
Three attacks targeted the ships’ engine rooms and sometimes the wheelhouse, but above the waterline. This would render the ship unable to move or maneuver, but would not sink it.
The General Directorate of Shipping issued an advisory in mid-February asking recruiters and ship owners not to place seamen on ships entering Iranian ports. An official source said the crew aboard the three vessels bonded before the advisory was issued.
Three missing Indian sailors on board MT Settebello confirmed dead: Sonowal
Family members of Seaman Aditya Sharma, 23, a deck cadet on the Settebello who was among the dead, urged the Himachal Pradesh government, where they live, and the Center to bring his body back to his native Galore village in Hamirpur so that his last rites could be performed. Sharma had planned to visit home in May but decided to extend his stay on the ship by a month, they said.
External Affairs Ministry official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said efforts are on to bring the remains to India as soon as possible.
The parties condemn the attacks
The attacks were condemned by various segments of the political class, with both the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) “strongly” condemning it.
A Congress statement said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “repeatedly paraded his personal relationship with President Donald Trump as a diplomatic success”, adding: “(Mr Modi) cannot shirk responsibility when this relationship fails to protect Indian lives and interests.”
The CPI(M) called the strikes “illegal US attacks”. “The government must issue a strong condemnation and demand full responsibility for the loss of Indian lives. It should intervene and put pressure on the US to stop its attacks in West Asia and lift the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and ensure free navigation,” she said in a statement.
(Contributions by Kallol Bhattacherjee, M. Kalyanaramana and PTI)
Published – 11 Jun 2026 14:33 IST