India Says 16 Of Its Seafarers Have Been Killed Since Feb. 28, 11 In The Persian Gulf And 5 In The Black Sea

Since the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei and several top commanders, missile attacks on shipping have become routine around the Strait of Hormuz. On Thursday, Oct. 8, India put a number on what that has cost its own sailors.

Shipping Secretary Vijay Kumar told a press conference in New Delhi that 11 Indian seafarers have died in conflict in West Asia and the Persian Gulf region. A senior Shipping Ministry official said five more have been killed in the Black Sea over the same period. That makes 16 in just over seven months.

What the Indian government counted

Kumar broke down the Gulf incidents. "There have been four attacks on Indian flagged vessels and 74 incidents involving foreign-flagged vessels, where Indian crew were on board. Unfortunately, there have been 11 confirmed casualties," he said.

India has repatriated 4,232 Indian seafarers from the Strait of Hormuz area, Kumar said. Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said only 139 remain in the conflict-hit region. Sonowal added that the government has set up an online framework to track every Indian sailor deployed on any vessel.

The ministry official also gave transit figures. Since Feb. 28, 74 vessels of Indian interest have passed through Hormuz, 25 of them India-flagged. The rest were foreign-flagged.

Eight Indian-flagged ships are currently in the Hormuz area, the official said. Six are trading there and two are container vessels.

"India has always called for freedom of navigation for the good of all nations," the official said.

The Black Sea toll

The Black Sea deaths are a separate theater from the Gulf, and they are recent. On Monday, Oct. 5, the commercial vessel MV Royad Mammadov was attacked in the Black Sea. The Indian Embassy in Romania said two foreign nationals were killed and several crew members were injured.

Three Indians were aboard. All three are safe, the embassy said, and one was hurt and is being treated at Constanța County Hospital in Romania. Ambassador Manoj Mohapatra spoke with the three men and the hospital's chief physician, who confirmed they are in good health.

No one in the Indian government's remarks on Thursday attributed the Black Sea or Gulf attacks to a specific party.

Saudi Arabia on the sealanes

Earlier Thursday, at the Sagarmanthan Dialogue in Delhi, Suliman bin Khalid Almazroua, president and CEO of the Saudi Ports Authority, said countries need more corridors and more connectivity and should work together. He then added a warning.

"International water should not be controlled. These are international waterways, and anyone who tries to control them should be stopped. This is a criminal act that needs to be stopped," he said. He did not name a country in the remarks as quoted.

Gulf security is worsening on land too

The shipping picture is not the only front affecting Indians in the region. Air India Express, Air India, Akasa Air and IndiGo have cancelled flights to Riyadh after reported Houthi attacks on the Riyadh and Abha airports. The cancellations run through at least Oct. 9-10.

India has also issued an advisory telling its nationals in Saudi Arabia to stay vigilant and remain indoors as the security situation deteriorates.

What remains open

The 139 Indian seafarers still in the conflict zone are the group the government's tracking system is meant to cover. The ministry has given no timeline for bringing them home.

The Riyadh flight cancellations are scheduled to be reviewed after Oct. 9-10, and the airlines have not said when service resumes.