The US military has disabled the Palau-flagged oil tanker Settebello in the Gulf of Oman, US Central Command said, accusing the vessel of trying to violate an American blockade by “attempting to transport oil from Iran”. Three Indian crew members are missing, India’s government said.

In a post on X, CENTCOM said a US aircraft fired “precision munitions” into the engine room of the Settebello “after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces”, Ada Derana reported citing the BBC. India’s external affairs ministry said three Indian sailors were missing and 21 Indian crew members had been rescued, and demanded the “targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must end”. New Delhi summoned the deputy head of the US mission in Delhi over the incident.

The Settebello is the eighth vessel CENTCOM has physically disabled and the 134th redirected since the US blockade of Iranian ports began on 13 April. Earlier disablements include the Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie hit with a Hellfire missile and the Gambia-flagged Lian Star turned back in the Gulf of Oman.

The Settebello strike is the second time in a week US forces have hit a Palau-flagged tanker carrying Indian crew in the same waters. The US-sanctioned Marivex was attacked off Oman on Monday with 24 Indian crew on board, all of whom were rescued by the Omani military. The pattern of Palau-flagged, India-crewed tankers being hit on the Iran trade route has now produced two distinct Indian crew incidents in eight days, raising the stakes for New Delhi’s diplomatic posture with Washington.

The disabling comes amid the sharpest US–Iran escalation since the April ceasefire. Trump on Wednesday threatened to hit Iran “hard”, saying Tehran was taking “too long” to negotiate. Iran retaliated with strikes on US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain and announced a full closure of the Strait of Hormuz to all vessels. The war began on 28 February when US and Israeli strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader. CENTCOM described its Wednesday operations as the “second day” of self-defence strikes.

For Sri Lankan readers, the Indian crew toll is a reminder that Indian seafarers — heavily relied on by South Asian shipping lines including those carrying Sri Lanka’s fuel imports — remain the human cost of the blockade.

Sources: Ada Derana — Three Indian sailors missing after US says it hit tanker in Gulf of Oman.