India Reiterates Call For Free & Safe Navigation Through Strait Of Hormuz As Attacks On Ships Rise

India has again called for free and safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz after a series of strikes on merchant vessels in the region, with the Ministry of External Affairs repeating its position on Tuesday.

Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India was talking to all parties involved so that civilian ships and crews are spared. He said the effort covers Indian-flagged vessels and Indian seafarers.

An Indian seafarer died on November 2 after a merchant vessel was struck off Limah in Oman, an attack that India condemned in strong terms.

The ministry earlier put the toll of Indians in the West Asia conflict at 22 including 14 seafarers. The war began in February after US and Israeli strikes on Iran and has disrupted traffic through Hormuz, while India has kept pressing for a settlement through dialogue and diplomacy.

The IMO has confirmed no fewer than 130 incidents involving merchant ships across the Middle East since the conflict began. The death toll among seafarers reached 25 after the tanker Velos Sapphire was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on November 5.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said crews continue to be killed or badly injured while others are abandoned or refused repatriation. He said seafarers stuck in the Persian Gulf are going without water and food and medical care.

The IMO Council met for its 138th session in London from November 2 to 6 and reaffirmed that shipping lanes must stay open and protected. The Council further condemned Houthi strikes on shipping and seafarers in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The IMO had verified 80 attacks in the Hormuz area by mid-September and put the number of seafarer deaths at 22 or more. Six months into the conflict up to 400 ships carrying about 6,000 seafarers still could not leave the Persian Gulf safely.

The organisation has also been working on an evacuation plan built around the traffic separation scheme as a corridor, to be used once safety guarantees are in place.

Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia have added to the tension in the region, with India voicing serious concern over hits on civilian infrastructure and economic assets in the kingdom. India warned that regional stability and freedom of navigation in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait are at risk.

The Iran-backed Houthi group also targeted the kingdom’s East-West crude pipeline which has become a key alternative for Saudi exports around the disrupted Hormuz route. The strikes have put the security of Bab-el-Mandeb in question.

References: gCaptain, Ship & Bunker, MarineLink, Ship Management International, New Indian Express