Overview
- A US strike on the Palau‑flagged tanker MT Settebello on June 10 hit the engine room and killed three Indian crew members including engine fitter Shivanand Chaurasia.
- India formally summoned Iran’s deputy ambassador and lodged a strong protest after separate early‑July attacks that also killed Indian seafarers.
- The Directorate General of Shipping will build a real‑time dashboard to monitor every Indian seafarer in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman and the government has advised companies not to hire new Indian crew for Hormuz transits.
- Unions are demanding independent inquiries and large compensation payouts while survivors and families say shipping companies have provided little or no compensation after risky deployments.
- Attribution remains disputed: the US says some struck ships were carrying Iranian oil and issued warnings before strikes, while vessel operators deny links to Tehran and say they received no warnings, and monitoring may be hampered if ships turn off transponders.