'Why was he near engine': Family of Aditya Sharma, Indian seafarer killed in US strike, seeks answers

THe fellowship of the 23-year-old seafarer who was killed in a US walk out on an oil colour tank driver close the Strait of Hormuz has demanded an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death.Aditya Sharma, a deck cadet on probation, was among three Indian crew members who died after the US military struck the Palau-flagged oil tanker MT Settebello in the Gulf of Oman on June 10. The US military forces, in a statement, said that the vessel was violating an American blockade by attempting to transport oil from Iran."We want to know what Aditya was doing near the engine at night when the attack took place, and whether any attempts were made to rescue him or not," his family said, as per PTI.ALSO READ | Who put my son in danger? Himachal sailor’s father demands probeAshok, Aditya's grandfather, wants an inquiry into the death of his grandson. “We want to know that when the captain was warned against moving ahead, in which capacity did he take the ship forward. We demand an inquiry,” he told PTI.His uncle, Sanjiv Sharma, said the family spent several anxious hours trying to determine Aditya's whereabouts after learning he was missing."I received a call from my brother around 9 pm on Wednesday that Aditya is missing. I immediately rushed to my brother's place in Jalandhar (Punjab). For the whole night, we tried to coordinate with the company for Aditya's whereabouts. It was only around 1.30 am that we came to know that he was no more," Sanjiv told PTI.Family appeals body be brought backThe family has also appealed to the Centre and the Himachal Pradesh government to bring Aditya's body home to Hamirpur district so that his last rites could be performed."We are trying to get the body of our boy so that we can perform the last rites," Sanjiv said.ALSO READ | ‘Be ready to respond’: India on highest alert, monitoring Hormuz after 3 seafarers killed in US strikeLast text before deathAccording to family members, Aditya had spoken to them days before the attack and had described tensions in the region after another vessel was reportedly targeted.His father, Rajesh Sharma, said the last text message from his son came about an hour before the strike on Settebello."On Wednesday, we waited the entire day for his call. Later, around 9pm, we received information that the vessel had been attacked and that three crew members were missing. We also want to know who is accountable for this. We want to see him just one more time," he told HT.Family members said Aditya initially planned to return home in May but extended his stay on board by a month.Allegations of harassment on boardRajesh Sharma has also alleged that his son faced harassment from a senior officer on board the vessel.On X, he claimed Aditya reported "exploitation by senior" officers and had sought to leave the ship in April."My son has reported exploitation by senior at ship and want to quit this ship in April. We have all conservation in records. A complaint was filed. But senior crew forced him to drop complaint and later they exploited him with hell like environment forcing him to work for 20 hours every day. We have all conservation in records," he wrote. According to the family, Aditya's original six-month contract was due to end on May 24, but he stayed on board to complete part of his mandatory training period.ALSO READ | MT Marivex, Settebello, MT Jalveer: All about 3 vessels with Indian crew struck by US near OmanCompany, ship manager respondAmar TL, a crewing assistant at World Maritime Energy Private Limited, through which Aditya was serving on the vessel, said the company was awaiting the captain's official statement."We understand the difficult situation the family is going through right now. We are a crew manning agency, and according to the information available to us, no one was forced to do anything. There was no wrongdoing on our part. We are also awaiting the captain's official statement," he said.UAE-based IOS Marine, the ship manager of MT Settebello, called for an independent international investigation into the incident."To the best of our knowledge and based on the information available to us, no warning call, message, or communication was ever successfully established with the vessel prior to the action taken against it," the company said.(With inputs from Dar Ovais)