Two foreign-flagged tankers carrying Indian crew members were targeted in separate attacks near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday.
- MT Basrah Energy struck by a projectile near the strait.
- Tanker Trend hit by a drone near Khasab Port, Oman.
- 153 Indian seafarers remain trapped across 14 vessels.
In the first incident, the Panama-flagged crude tanker MT Basrah Energy was struck by a projectile in its funnel area while sailing eastbound outside the strait. The vessel, a 333-metre tanker, sustained no major structural damage, and all 22 crew members—including 14 Indian nationals—remained unhurt before the ship docked at Fujairah. The Indian Directorate of Maritime Administration confirmed the details of the attack.
Separately, the Togo-flagged product tanker Trend was hit by a drone near Khasab Port, Oman, approximately 16 nautical miles northeast of the Musandam peninsula. Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, claimed its forces struck and detained the vessel for allegedly attempting an unauthorized passage through the strait. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) acknowledged a security incident occurred, though it provided no specific data regarding casualties.
Currently, 153 Indian seafarers remain west of the Strait of Hormuz across 14 vessels, consisting of six Indian-flagged ships and eight foreign-flagged vessels of Indian interest; ten of these ships have been marked for evacuation. Indian nationals account for roughly 12 percent of the global merchant navy workforce. Since the escalation of the conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran, casualties have mounted, including 16 Indian nationals killed in the Middle East—ten of whom were seafarers—alongside 12 others who perished in a separate gas-plant explosion in Qatar. The ongoing conflict has also left individuals like Sumit Kumar Singh, an oiler from Bihar, missing following a September 13 attack on the MT El Gaia. Despite repeated directives from the Directorate General of Shipping barring new deployments through the Strait of Hormuz, shipping companies continue to operate in the region. Over 4,000 Indian seafarers have already been evacuated from the area. As geopolitical tensions persist, oil traffic remains constrained, with Fujairah serving as an emergency anchorage and ship-to-ship transfers occurring off Sohar. Indian workers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman continue to navigate the risks as the international community, including upcoming discussions at the UN General Assembly, addresses the broader regional instability.
