'All crew members are safe': India factchecks viral claims of Indian seafarer deaths on MT Liaki Freedom

The Indian government moved quickly on Saturday to contain a wave of misinformation circulating on social media, confirming that all crew members aboard the vessel Liaki Freedom were safe.

Separately Union Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar pressed the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the deaths of three Indian sailors in a military strike on a different commercial tanker earlier in the week.

MEA Confirms Liaki Freedom Crew Safe, Flags 'False Reports'

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it had spoken directly with the master of the vessel Liaki Freedom, who confirmed that no crew members had been harmed. The ministry was explicit in labelling earlier reports as fabricated.

"We have spoken with the Master of the vessel Liaki Freedom, who has confirmed that all crew members are safe and that the reported information is false," the MEA said in its official statement.

The clarification came in response to reports circulating across several media outlets claiming that Indians had been killed in an overnight attack on the vessel, which according to vesseltracker.com is a Marshall Islands-flagged tankship operating in waters off Oman.

The MEA Fact Check handle on X separately urged the public to exercise caution, warning people to stay alert against such false and baseless claims and posts on social media.

Jaishankar Protests to US Secretary of State Over Gulf Strikes That Killed Three Indian Mariners

The factcheck on the Liaki Freedom came amid a far graver and confirmed crisis unfolding in the same waters. In the early hours of Saturday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said he had spoken to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to formally register India's objection to a recent US Navy attack that resulted in the deaths of three Indian sailors.

"Spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this evening. I reiterated India's strong protest at the attacks by the US Navy in the Gulf that killed three Indian mariners. Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified," Jaishankar wrote on X.

What Happened to MT Settebello: Three Indians Dead, 21 Rescued

The deaths that prompted Jaishankar's protest occurred on Wednesday, when the commercial tanker MT Settebello came under fire from US forces in the Gulf of Oman. American authorities alleged the vessel had violated an ongoing naval blockade on Iranian ports.

Of the 24 Indian crew members aboard at the time, 21 were rescued. Three were later confirmed dead. The MEA on Thursday announced that the three seafarers had been identified and said efforts were under way to repatriate their mortal remains to India at the earliest opportunity.

India Summons US Charge d'Affaires for Second Time Over Gulf Attacks

The diplomatic fallout from the incident has been swift and escalating. On Friday, the MEA summoned US Charge d'Affaires Jason Meeks to lodge a formal protest against the continuing attacks on commercial vessels off the Omani coast.

The summons followed a further incident the previous day, in which a separate commercial vessel carrying 20 Indian crew members also came under attack in the region. It marked the second occasion on which the MEA had called in the US mission over the worsening maritime security situation.

MEA spokesperson Jaiswal addressed the attacks directly, confirming the source of the strikes and the vessels involved.

"These attacks came from the US Navy that is stationed there. As you would have seen in the various reports, as also in what was clarified through our statements and otherwise from this podium, the three ships that have been involved in the incidents are foreign-flagged," Jaiswal said.

India and US at Loggerheads Over Commercial Shipping Safety in the Gulf

The twin developments on Saturday, a government factcheck on one vessel and confirmed fatalities on another, illustrate the volatile and fast-moving nature of the crisis India is now managing in the Gulf of Oman.

New Delhi has found itself navigating both an information environment prone to rapid misinformation and a live diplomatic confrontation with Washington over the safety of its citizens at sea.