Three merchant ships hit by the US off Oman coast had a chequered past

ALl deuce-ace merchandiser ships handicapped by US naval forces strikes away the coast of Oman this week had earlier been detained, found unsafe or placed under sanctions, records show, even as the operator of the ship on which three Indian seafarers died denied any link to Iranian oil.India’s external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said two of the three ships had been sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, while the third was “non-compliant”. The vessels are the Marivex, the Settebello and the Jalveer.The Marivex, the first ship struck this week, had 24 Indian crew aboard. The Palau-flagged tanker is linked to Panama-based Arihant Shipping and was sanctioned by OFAC in December 2025, when it sailed under the name Arihant. The Treasury said it had carried hundreds of thousands of barrels of Iranian fuel oil and bitumen in the Persian Gulf since July 2025.The ship was renamed in February 2026 and withdrawn from the Indian Register of Shipping at its owners’ request, according to the maritime database Equasis. Losing that classification, which sets minimum safety standards, typically costs a ship its insurance and its ability to operate legally. Persons aware of the matter said that when US forces warned the Marivex on June 7, it signalled compliance and turned south towards Masirah island, then switched off its transponders to hide its position.The Settebello, struck on Wednesday, was the ship on which three Indian seafarers died. Formerly named Hana, it had its classification suspended in 2021 for non-compliance. It was detained at the Russian port of Novorossiisk in 2022, where inspectors found 29 deficiencies, including in fire safety, navigation and medical care, and again at the Chinese port of Lianyungang in February 2026 over its emergency systems, lifeboats and weathertight condition.The ship is owned by Aqua Aurora Shipping Lines and operated by IOS Marine FZ, both based in the UAE although public records show Aqua Aurora once listed a Chandigarh address registered to Global Tankers Pvt Ltd, a firm controlled by UAE-based Indian national Jugwinder Singh Brar that OFAC sanctioned on April 12, 2025.When HT visited the address, a guard at a neighbouring building said Global Tankers had moved away years earlier. The link between the two firms rests on that single, now-vacated address.IOS Marine rejected the US account. In a public statement, it said the Settebello had “no affiliation whatsoever with Iran or Iranian oil” and was a civilian vessel engaged in legitimate trade. It said the ship had been stationary for about 10 days before it was struck. The statement did not mention the Chandigarh address or the Global Tankers registration.The Jalveer, struck on Thursday, had 20 Indian crew who were reported safe. The Guinea-Bissau-flagged asphalt tanker was bound for Mangaluru. It is owned by Liberia-based Jal Shipping and operated by Doorabeen Shipping OPC Pvt Ltd, listed at a Mumbai address, according to the database MagicPort. It was detained at the Indian port of Haldia in February 2026 for fire-safety and emergency-preparedness deficiencies.No OFAC sanction is recorded against the Jalveer, making it, by the ministry’s account, the non-compliant ship.US Central Command said it disabled the vessel with two Hellfire missiles after the crew failed to comply with its directions, and that it had violated the blockade by trying to carry Iranian oil. Persons aware of the matter said the ship had made several calls at Iranian ports and conducted ship-to-ship transfers with sanctioned vessels.The two sides have not reconciled their accounts. CENTCOM says its forces strike only after repeated warnings, and that the Jalveer’s crew ignored them. IOS Marine says the Settebello was never contacted, and has called on the US to release any evidence that it was.