U.S. offers condolences to India after fatal ship shooting NEW DELHI - The U.S. Embassy in India expressed its condolences Tuesday after an American refueling ship in the Persian Gulf opened fire on a fishing boat, killing one Indian and wounding three others. India has called for an investigation by the United Arab Emirates, in whose waters the shooting took place. In a statement, the embassy said the United States was launching its own investigation, but repeated previous U.S. suggestions that the use of force was justified given that the small motorized vessel was approaching the Navy fuel resupply ship Rappahannock on Monday at a rapid pace and failed to heed several warnings to turn away. The Navy has said the signals were sent by radio, loudspeakers and flashing lights. Lt. Greg Raelson, a public affairs official with the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said he couldn't say whether the admonitions were in English, Arabic or another language but said the Navy issued a "series of nonlethal warnings" as part of routine efforts to protect itself. He declined to predict how long an investigation might take. The Navy has been wary of small boats getting too close to warships since the October 2000 suicide attack on the U.S. destroyer Cole in Yemen that killed 17 sailors and injured 39. The fishing vessel hit by the Rappahannock's .50-caliber machine guns Monday afternoon was about 30 feet long with three outboard engines and a crew of four Indians and two United Arab Emirate nationals, according to news reports. Despite the U.S. assertions, one of the Indian fishermen aboard the boat that was attacked insisted by telephone from his hospital bed in the United Arab Emirates that the shots came without verbal warning. "We were shocked to come under attack like this," said Sarvana, who goes by one name. There was no time to react. We didn't know what hit us. Sarvana said the fishermen were headed in the same direction as the U.S. naval vessel, which they saw, but veered off in a different direction to deal with an engine problem. The U.S. ship flashed some lights at them, he said, but given the bright sunlight the fishermen were unsure what the signals meant. Then the ship fired on them. Sarvana was hit twice in the thigh, and his colleague Shekar, 25, was killed on the spot. Another crew member, Muthu Muniyaraj, 28, was hit twice in the legs; a third, Muthu Kannan, 35, was struck in the mouth and stomach and was in a critical condition. The two emirate sailors hid near the boat's engines the moment the firing started and weren't hurt. The emirate government hadn't questioned the fishermen or taken any other action, Sarvana said, adding that they were satisfied with the care at the hospital, which employs Indian doctors. Monday's incident occurred close to the Strait of Hormuz, about 10 miles off the port of Jebel Ali. Iran has threatened to block international shipping through the strait in retaliation for economic sanctions imposed because of its disputed nuclear program. Amid mounting tension, the U.S. said this week that it would send the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis to the Persian Gulf region by the end of September, about four months ahead of schedule, to replace the carrier Enterprise. The Stennis will serve both as a hedge against Iran and to support combat air operations in Afghanistan. About 40% of the world's seaborne oil exports passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Indian fishermen have found themselves in the cross-fire of anti-piracy and counter-terrorism operations lately. This week's incident follows one in February in which two Indian fishermen were shot dead off the coast of India by an Italian cargo vessel that mistook them for pirates, creating diplomatic tensions between the two nations. Recent killings of fishermen in "freak incidents" are a matter of great concern, said Julian Teeler, deputy head of the South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies. The trade group planned to warn its members to be more vigilant and maintain a wider perimeter around large official-looking vessels, he said. Tanvi Sharma of The Times' New Delhi bureau contributed to this report.