External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Friday sounded the alarm over repeated attacks on civilian shipping across the Gulf, Red Sea and Black Sea, telling countries at the United Nations that violence against commercial vessels and their crews was “simply indefensible” and must stop. Citing a series of incidents in which Indian seafarers were killed or went missing, he said such attacks could no longer be treated as exceptional events and required a coordinated international response.
Jaishankar was speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. The initiative has been brought together by India, one of the world’s major suppliers of seafarers, and Liberia, which has the world’s largest shipping registry.
Indian sailor killed days ago
Jaishankar pointed to an attack just two days earlier on an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier in the Gulf of Oman, in which an Indian sailor was killed. He also referred to a Panama-flagged oil tanker struck in the Strait of Hormuz around 10 days earlier, following which an Indian crew member was reported missing.
“These, regrettably, are no longer exceptional occurrences,” Jaishankar said, pointing to repeated attacks on commercial shipping and merchant mariners in recent months. He said similar incidents had occurred across the Gulf, the Red Sea and the Black Sea, putting civilian crews at risk and threatening maritime commerce.
The External Affairs Minister also recalled two incidents in the Black Sea in July. An Indian chief officer aboard MV Omorfi was killed when the vessel was struck in Russian territorial waters on July 18, while four Indian seafarers died the following day after MV Golden Leo was hit following its departure from Odesa.
Jaishankar stressed that Indians were not the only victims and that seafarers from several countries had suffered casualties this year. The repeated attacks, he said, had turned the safety of civilian shipping into an increasingly urgent international concern.
‘These attacks must stop’
Jaishankar said there could be no justification for violence against commercial ships and the resulting loss of civilian lives. Disrupting maritime commerce and endangering crews serving aboard merchant vessels could not be defended irrespective of the geopolitical circumstances surrounding individual conflicts, he said.
The consequences extended well beyond the ships directly attacked. Disruption of important maritime routes could push up freight and insurance costs, interfere with energy and food supplies and impose particularly severe costs on developing countries dependent on international trade.
India has repeatedly raised the vulnerability of merchant shipping during conflicts this year. With Indian nationals forming a significant part of the international maritime workforce, attacks on vessels sailing under foreign flags can directly affect Indian families even when the ships themselves have no connection with India.
India, Liberia launch new grouping
Against that backdrop, India and Liberia have brought together countries with different but complementary interests in global shipping. The new Group of Friends includes major ship-owning nations, countries operating large shipping registries and states that supply substantial numbers of seafarers to the international merchant fleet.
The initiative is intended to improve cooperation on protecting vessels and crews, including responses when sailors are trapped or injured in conflict zones. Jaishankar invited participating countries to help determine the grouping’s procedures and terms of reference as it begins its work.
He also drew attention to the broader hardships faced by seafarers during periods of conflict, including prolonged confinement aboard ships, delays in crew changes and repatriation, separation from families and psychological distress. Protection, he argued, therefore had to extend beyond responding to the immediate physical danger posed by attacks.
Call for coordinated response
India has argued that the multinational nature of commercial shipping makes international cooperation particularly important. A ship may be owned in one country, registered under another country’s flag and operated by a crew comprising several nationalities, complicating emergency responses when it is attacked.
New Delhi has consequently pushed for stronger mechanisms to coordinate distress alerts, medical assistance, evacuation and communication with the families of affected seafarers. India has also advocated better coordination between national maritime authorities, diplomatic missions and international organisations when crews are caught in conflict zones.
For Jaishankar, the series of attacks this year underscored why seafarers could no longer remain a secondary consideration in discussions about geopolitical conflicts and maritime security. Protecting the people who keep global trade moving, he argued, had to become a collective international responsibility.