'I will come home safely': Indian sailor's last words to wife before a US strike killed him

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. 'I will come home safely': Indian sailor's last words to wife before a US strike killed him7 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleSrinivas Lakkoju , TeluguandNikita YadavPatnala BhargaviPatnala Suresh was looking forward to celebrating his 15th wedding anniversary this month"He told me he would be home soon. I never imagined he would return like this," says Patnala Bhargavi, whose husband Patnala Suresh, an Indian sailor, was killed in a US strike near the Gulf of Oman this week. The couple were looking forward to celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary this month.

Instead, Bhargavi is trying to come to terms with a future without him. Suresh was one of three Indian sailors killed when the US military struck the MT Settebello, an oil tanker, in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday. The attack was part of Washington's effort to enforce a blockade on Iran-linked shipping, with the US military saying the tanker had ignored repeated warnings and was carrying Iranian oil.

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The vessel's managers dispute that account, saying it had no connection to Iran and received no warning before it was hit. Twenty-one other crew members were rescued. The deaths have reverberated across India, from Bhargavi's home in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to towns and villages hundreds of kilometres away, where other families are mourning loved ones who left home to earn a living at sea.

As they grieve, many are also seeking answers about the circumstances of the strike and waiting for the sailors' bodies to be returned home. In a post on X, Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said efforts were under way to bring the sailors' bodies back, describing their deaths as a "profound loss" to India's maritime community. India has also lodged a strong protest with Washington over the strike, summoning a senior US diplomat and calling for an end to attacks on commercial vessels in the region.

For Bhargavi, however, the wider geopolitical fallout feels distant. Visitors have barely stopped coming home since news of Suresh's death reached them. Amid the condolences, Bhargavi keeps returning to their last conversation.

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"There have been attacks in this area and some people have been killed. But don't worry about me. I'll come home safely, and we'll celebrate our anniversary properly," she recalls him saying.

Surrounded by photographs of Suresh and their two children, the 39-year-old now struggles to reconcile that promise with her husband's death. CentcomCentcom posted what it said was footage of the strike on the ship's engine roomSuresh had spent around 15 years at sea, working as a marine engineer and travelling the world. As the ship's chief engineer, he was entitled to six months' leave each year.

But he rarely took that much time off, according to his father Ramakrishna. "He loved his work and preferred to spend most of his time at sea," he told the . His family had long grown accustomed to the months he spent away from home.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.