U.S. forces struck a commercial tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, the third such attack in a week on ships in the region, including one that killed three Indian seafarers and prompted a diplomatic protest from New Delhi.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Central Command has said that each of the targeted ships had violated its blockade of Iran and \u201cfailed to comply with directions\u201d from American forces. Oman\u2019s military launched operations to rescue dozens of crew members, who were all Indian, from the stricken tankers.<\/p>\n
But three crew members missing after a U.S. strike on the oil tanker Settebello on Wednesday were found dead, the Indian government said on Thursday. They were the first merchant sailors to be killed since the United States began enforcing the blockade that was imposed in April. In that period, nine noncompliant ships have been \u201cdisabled,\u201d according to Centcom.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s foreign ministry summoned Jason Meeks, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, late Wednesday to lodge a protest after the strike on the Settebello. The ministry said Thursday that an additional 20 Indian seafarers were rescued from the Jalveer, the third tanker, after it was attacked by the U.S. military. The first tanker, the Marivex, was struck on Monday.<\/p>\n
Parvathaneni Harish, India\u2019s permanent representative to the United Nations, said the country was \u201cfirmly opposed to attacks on merchant shipping as many of our nationals are prominent in its global work force,\u201d in a statement at the United Nations Security Council. He also underscored that disruptions in the Middle East had \u201cserious consequences for the Indian economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
India supplies 12 percent of the work force \u2014 about 300,000 people \u2014 for the global merchant shipping industry, according to Indian government figures. That means Indians are likely to be part of crews on many commercial ships.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are ordinary people, not trained for war,\u201d said Manoj Yadav, general secretary of the Forward Seamen\u2019s Union of India, who has been in regular contact with some of the crew members rescued from the ships. Mr. Yadav said it was \u201ctragic\u201d that they were stuck in a mess not of their making. \u201cIndia needs to ask tough questions,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n