India’s Ministry of External Affairs has publicly condemned recent attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, noting that two of the targeted ships were sanctioned under the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and a third was classified as non-compliant.
What happened to the Marivex
The most prominent incident involved the Marivex, a tanker previously known as the Arihant, which had already been designated under OFAC sanctions. On or around June 8, the vessel was struck by what has been described as a US precision strike after allegedly violating an ongoing blockade.
Twenty-four Indian crew members were aboard at the time. Omani forces conducted an emergency rescue operation, and no fatalities were reported.
India’s MEA classified the attacks on these vessels as “unacceptable.” The statement didn’t distinguish between the sanctioned and non-sanctioned vessels in its condemnation, instead focusing on the safety of Indian seafarers regardless of the ships’ regulatory status.
