'Who will be accountable for this?': Families grieve sailors killed in Strait of Hormuz

Three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz have been struck by the US military in the past week, including one on which three Indian sailors were killed.

US forces fired "precision munitions" into the engine room of MT Settebello, a Palau-flagged vessel with a majority Indian crew on board, on Wednesday.

Only 21 of the 24 Indian seafarers were rescued by the Omani Navy.

The other three ship workers — identified as deck cadet Aditya Sharma from Himachal Pradesh, engine fitter Shivanand Chaurasiya and chief engineer Patnala Suresh — died in the incident.

US CENTCOM said the ship had violated America's blockade of Iranian ports and refused to comply with its directions.

However, the Indian government has condemned the recent attacks, calling for an "end" to such incidents in the region.

Two other vessels were also struck by the US military this week, Palau-flagged MT Marivex and Guinea-flagged MT Jalveer.

CENTCOM said all three vessels were attacked because they were non-compliant.

Two of the three vessels were reportedly sanctioned by the US and a third was attempting to transport Iranian oil.

Since a US blockade on Iranian ports and Iran-linked vessels came into place on April 13, more than 30 ships with Indian crew members on board have been attacked by either US Forces or Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to Forward Seamen Union of India.

At least seven Indian seafarers have lost their lives since the war in Iran began.

Most of the seafarers in ships in the Strait of Hormuz come from countries with no links to the war, like India and the Philippines.

Indian seafarers stranded

India is one of the world's largest suppliers of merchant marine labour and about 18,000 Indian seafarers are in the entire Gulf region, according to India's shipping ministry.

Many of these seafarers hail from poor socio-economic backgrounds and have little say in the "war-like" conditions in which they are working.

A fragile ceasefire is in place between the US, Israel and Iran.

But all three have been engaged in strikes this week, some of them hitting areas near the Strait of Hormuz.

These recent US attacks have highlighted yet again that the innocent sailors in the contested Strait of Hormuz, who are often not talked about in the war, are being significantly impacted by it.

"Seafarers often pay the price in conflict, especially when conflict spills out into the maritime domain,"

former Australian naval officer Jennifer Parker said.

She said the US's blockade of Iranian ports and vessels follows international naval law, and that any ships attacked would have "been given warnings" through the VHF (very high frequency) radio systems in the vessels.

She explained that under international law, the US military could attack ships.

But clarified that attacks on ships in the past by the IRGC did not fall under the same category.

"There is a difference in international law in terms of the law of naval warfare on firing on a ship that is running a blockade and refuses to stop, and firing on innocent civilian ships trying to get through the Strait of Hormuz," she said.

Families mourn deaths

India's shipping minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, said the remains of the three men who died would be returned to India soon.

Grieving father of Aditya Sharma, one of the sailors who died in the attack, said returning his son's body was his "one demand".

"That the mortal remains of my son be brought back," Rajesh Sharma said.

In the Sharma house in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, Aditya's relatives gathered to mourn him.

"I want to know about his last moments," Mr Sharma said.

"I want to know what were the circumstances that led to the death of the three sailors of our country. When the others were rescued, why not them?"

Aditya's uncle, Himanshu Sharma, also had questions about his nephew's death.

"Who will be accountable for this?" he asked.

"I feel like attacking a commercial vessel is really against humanity."

For the parents of Shivanand Chaurasiya, the news of the death of their son is something they are still reeling from.

"We were informed that a bomb had been dropped on the ship," Ramji Chaurasiya, the father of the seafarer, said.

Shivanand came from a humble family in the village of Deoria in Uttar Pradesh state.

"We spoke with him two days ago … he said everything is fine," he said, breaking down into tears.

India lodges 'strong protest'

The Indian government has issued a "strong protest" after the recent strikes against tankers with Indian crew members in the strait.

On Friday local time, the US Charge d'affaires was "summoned" by the Indian Foreign Ministry for a second time in the past week, in response to the deaths.

"These attacks must cease and end," said Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

"The continuing incidents of attacks on shipping in the region are deeply worrisome and a direct result of the ongoing conflict in the region."

The most recent attack was on the ship Jalveer, an oil tanker that US forces said was attempting to transport oil from Iran.

Manoj Yadav, the general secretary of India's seafarers union, FSUI, said attacking "a vessel's engine room is not the solution".

"If you are issuing any notice, or you are asking someone to divert and if they are not, you don't hit the most sensitive area with the maximum petroleum products," he said.

Mr Yadav added that to create "alarm", the US military could have simply fired in front of the vessel or made more of an effort to speak with the ship and get it to follow their directions.

"It's just kind of, if I will say you stop, [and] if you will not stop, then I will pull my gun and I will shoot you," he said.

Mr Yadav said both the IRGC and the US military should stop attacking commercial vessels in the area.

While public fury over these recent deaths is growing in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not yet publicly commented on the incident.

But he might have the opportunity to discuss these attacks personally with US President Donald Trump, who he is expected to meet on the sidelines of the G7 leaders' summit in France next week.