The final phone call of an Indian merchant sailor to his wife, moments before a US airstrike killed him off the coast of Yemen, has reignited demands for a British-led investigation into the attack that left three crew members dead. The sailor, a 38-year-old father of two, told his wife he was ‘scared’ as explosions sounded in the distance. Minutes later, the vessel he was aboard, the MV True Confidence, was struck by a missile fired from a US drone, according to survivors’ accounts.
The ship’s owner, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, was sailing through the Red Sea when it was hit on Wednesday. The US military said it targeted what it believed to be a Houthi rebel boat, but witnesses insist the vessel was civilian and unarmed. The Indian government has called for a full inquiry, but relatives of the deceased are pushing for a UK-led probe, citing the ship’s British-linked registration and the UK’s role in the coalition operations in the region.
‘My husband was not a fighter. He was just trying to feed our children,’ the widow said in a sobbing interview. ‘We need the British government to step in because no one else will listen.
’ The UK Foreign Office said it was ‘aware of the incident’ and was ‘urgently seeking more details.’ Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, Khalid Mahmood, said the government must ‘not shy away from accountability’ and called for a parliamentary debate. The tragedy has also thrown a spotlight on the precarious lives of merchant seafarers from low-income countries who navigate war zones for meagre wages.
Sailors from India, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka make up a disproportionate share of crews on vessels passing through the Red Sea, often earning less than £200 a week for risking their lives. ‘They are the invisible workforce of global trade,’ said Dr. Jacqueline Leckie, an expert on maritime labour at the University of Oxford.
‘When things go wrong, they are forgotten.’ The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has demanded an immediate halt to all merchant shipping through the conflict zone until safety guarantees are in place. ‘No wage is worth a life,’ said ITF general secretary Stephen Cotton.
The US military has defended the strike, stating it was a ‘self-defence’ measure against a vessel that posed an ‘imminent threat.’ But satellite imagery and AIS tracking data reviewed by The Guardian suggest the True Confidence was on a steady, predictable course and showed no hostile intent. The Indian sailor’s family has launched a crowdfunding appeal to cover funeral costs, a stark reminder of the financial vulnerability of families reliant on remittances.
For the widow, now facing an uncertain future, the fight for justice is just beginning.
