Hormuz and Black Sea Strikes Injure Indian Crew as India Leads Seafarer-Safety Diplomacy

The news

New Delhi. A projectile hit the Panama-flagged tanker MT On Peace in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, October 6. Of its 19 crew, 17 are Indian; 12 were injured, 11 of them Indian, the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) said; Oman evacuated them to Khasab. A day earlier a Russian drone strike set the Turkish-owned MV Royad Mammadov ablaze in the Black Sea, killing two foreign crew; reports differ on whether one of its three Indians was hurt, and India’s mission in Romania says all three are safe. Indians are about 12% of the world’s seafarers. Sources cited by The Indian Express count at least nine Indian seafarers dead and seven injured from the start of the West Asia crisis to July, in at least 29 attacks, only four on Indian-flagged ships. In September, India and Liberia launched a 25-nation Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers at the UN General Assembly.

Static syllabus linkage

1. UNCLOS makes the flag state, not the crew’s country, answerable for a ship. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982, a ship on the high seas is under the exclusive jurisdiction of its flag state (Article 92), which must ensure safety and labour conditions on board (Article 94). Part III guarantees transit passage through international straits such as Hormuz.
2. The Maritime Labour Convention is the seafarers’ bill of rights. Adopted by the International Labour Organization in 2006, the MLC sets minimum standards on wages, hours, medical care and repatriation. India ratified it on 9 October 2015. Ship safety and crew training fall under the International Maritime Organization, a UN agency in London.

Why UPSC loves this

1. GS2 links foreign policy to Indians abroad. The syllabus covers the “Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora”. Seafarers are a diaspora at sea.

Analysis

1. Indian crews are exposed because they sail under other flags, which also limits what India can do. Only four of the 29 attacks involved Indian-flagged ships. Under the law of the sea, Panama, not India, answers for the On Peace, so India’s role shrinks to consular help, as with Oman’s evacuation. That is why India’s response is diplomatic, not legal.
2. Lens — National interest and global commons: protecting Indian crews means defending navigation for all. The MEA framed the attacks as an assault on international waterways, not only on Indians. Pairing India, a crew-supplying state, with Liberia, a large flag registry, joins both halves of maritime responsibility. A sensible officer would steer the Group of Friends towards shared rules on reporting attacks, evacuation and compensation, not declarations alone.
3. Refusing to take sides lets India speak to both attackers. Indian seafarers have been hit by both Russia and Ukraine, and India talks to both. Neutrality buys access; the cost is that statements rarely name the attacker, which weakens deterrence.

Administrator's brainstorm