U.S. attacks third ship with Indian seafarers, crew safe

12 JUNE 2026

U.S. forces attacked a merchant ship carrying Indian seafarers for the third time in four days.
The Guinea-Bissau flagged bitumen carrier Jalveer which was attacked on 11^th June 2026 off the port of Shinas, Oman, had 20 Indian seafarers, and they are all safe.
The External Affairs Ministry summoned the U.S. Chargé d’affaires Jason Meeks and lodged a “strong protest” regarding the attacks.
U.S. Centcom has said in a statement that two Hellfire missiles were fired into Jalveer’s engine room after the “crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from U.S. forces”. The ship was attacked for “attempting to transport Iranian oil.”
Jalveer’s safety manager is an Indian company located in Chembur, Mumbai, as per the Equasis database.
U.S. aircraft attacked Palau-flagged tankers Marivex and Settebello on 8^th June and 10^th June, respectively.
Three Indian seafarers on Settebello died in the attack, which the Indian government confirmed.
The three attacks have targeted the engine rooms of the ships and sometimes the steering compartment but above the waterline. This would render the ship without the means to move or manoeuvre but not sink it.
The Directorate General of Shipping had issued an advisory mid-February asking seafarer recruiters and shipowners not to deploy seafarers on ships calling on Iranian ports.
An official source said the crew onboard the three vessels had joined before the advisory was issued.