Patnala Suresh, a 44-year-old chief engineer from Visakhapatnam, was among three Indian crew members killed in an attack on the Palau-flagged tanker MT Settebello off Oman on June 10. Twenty-one other Indian sailors were rescued. The deaths were confirmed on June 11 after bodies were recovered.
The attack occurred on June 10 while the vessel was in the Strait of Hormuz. Suresh had joined the ship at the end of January and was due to sign off after nearly four months aboard. His wife Bhargavi last spoke to him on the night of June 9.
Bhargavi said company officials informed the family on June 11 that her husband’s body had been identified. She described him as the sole earning member of the family and appealed to Indian authorities for help in repatriating the remains.
The vessel had been operating near China and Singapore before heading to the Gulf region. Suresh and the other two deceased crew members were initially reported missing before search operations confirmed their deaths.
