Two vessels carrying 24 Indian seafarers hit in Hormuz and Romania; India says all are safe

India's shipping minister said on Friday, October 16, that all 24 Indian seafarers on two tankers hit in separate incidents are safe. A crude oil tanker with 15 Indian seafarers was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on October 16, and a chemical tanker at Sulina Anchorage in Romania was hit by a drone on October 14, according to a Reuters report carried by Cyprus Mail and Devdiscourse.

What the minister said

Sarbananda Sonowal, India's Union minister for ports, shipping and waterways, posted on X that all 24 Indian nationals across both vessels were completely safe, with no casualties or injuries, according to Reuters. The report does not name either vessel and does not give a crew breakdown for the Romanian ship. The figure of 24 minus 15 would leave nine Indians on that vessel, but the report does not state this.

Who was responsible

Neither Reuters version says who carried out either attack or whether anyone has claimed responsibility. The Cyprus Mail copy is tagged "Iran crisis" and "Strait of Hormuz," but the text does not attribute the attacks to any party.

The earlier incidents on October 11

The week's attacks follow two others involving Indian crews. India's Ministry of External Affairs said the Nicaragua-flagged tanker MT Petro Dolphin was reportedly hit by a drone at Sohar Anchorage off Oman on Sunday, October 11, with two Indian seafarers missing and nine of its 11 Indian crew rescued, according to Odisha Bytes. Business Today says the vessel had 12 crew, 11 Indians and one Bangladeshi, and notes that an embedded social post gave 10 rescued instead of nine. Sonowal said Omani authorities had launched a rescue operation. The reports read for this article do not say what became of the two missing seafarers.

On the same day the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker MT Valthera was hit by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire. The ministry said all 11 Indian seafarers aboard were safe (Odisha Bytes).

The ministry called the attacks on merchant shipping deeply concerning and urged immediate de-escalation and dialogue. It said freedom of navigation must be protected under international law, per Odisha Bytes. Scroll.in quotes the ministry as saying attacks on commercial vessels, seafarers and civilian infrastructure must cease, and reports that India did not say who carried out those attacks. Scroll.in also says at least 11 Indian seafarers have died in Hormuz attacks since the West Asia war began in February; that is Scroll.in's own count and is not attributed to an official.

Wider context

Business Today says attacks on tankers have risen since the collapse of Iran-US peace talks and amid a continuing US blockade, and reports at least seven tanker attacks in the first week of October. It does not attribute the incidents to a party. Odisha Bytes says an earlier attack on the tanker MT Gem No. 2, with 22 Indian nationals aboard, occurred at Sharjah Anchorage on October 9, with all Indian crew reported safe.