Tanker with Indian crew was hit by US while drifting in Gulf of Oman, had engine off
Fresh details indicate that the oil tanker on which three Indian sailors were killed last month was not sailing when it was hit by a US airstrike in the Gulf of Oman. Instead, the ship was drifting at sea with its engine turned off, awaiting the arrival of another ship to transfer oil, the New York Times (NYT) reported citing interviews with crew members, US military officials, and families of victims. A visual of the Palau-flagged oil tanker MT Settebello, with 24 Indian seafarers on board, attacked by US forces off the coast of Oman. (ANI) On June 10, the 600-foot tanker Settebello’s engine room was hit by a US airstrike shortly after 7am (local time), resulting in the death of chief engineer Suresh Patnala, mechanic Shivanand Chaurasia, and 23-year-old trainee cadet Aditya Sharma. The former two had just begun their shifts in the engine room while Sharma was having breakfast in an adjacent room when the vessel was hit. The Settebello had been moving Iranian oil for at least five years, though the ship …
