India denounces attacks on merchant shipping after Iran targets Kandla-bound vessel

INdia on midweek denounced attacks on merchandiser cargo ships during the infringe in due west Asia after a Thai-flagged vessel bound for the country was fired upon by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).Three vessels were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, maritime security firms said on Wednesday, taking the number of ships attacked in the region since the start of the Iran-US conflict to 14.Twenty crew members of the Thai-flagged Mayuree Naree, a dry bulk vessel, were rescued and three more remain missing, Thailand’s transport ministry said. The crew abandoned the vessel in a lifeboat and were rescued by the Omani Navy.The external affairs ministry referred to the attack on Mayuree Naree and said the vessel was bound for Kandla port in India.Also Read: India monitors 28 merchant ships in Persian Gulf, 10 million Indians in West Asia“India deplores the fact that commercial shipping is being made a target of military attacks in the ongoing conflict in West Asia,” the ministry said in a statement.“Precious lives, including those of Indian citizens, have already been lost in multiple such attacks in the earlier phase of this conflict and the intensity and lethality of the attacks only seem to be increasing,” it said.Two Indian seafarers were killed and another reported missing after attacks on two oil tankers in the Persian Gulf in the initial stages of the conflict.“India reiterates that targeting commercial shipping and endangering innocent civilian crew members, or otherwise impeding freedom of navigation and commerce, should be avoided,” the statement said.Indians constitute almost 12% of the global seafaring workforce, with a total of more than 320,000 active sailors.Shipping along the narrow Strait of Hormuz has come to a near standstill since Israel and the US launched military strikes on Iran on February 28, preventing the export of about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies and sending global oil prices surging to highs not witnessed since 2022.The IRGC, which has warned that any ship passing through the strait will be targeted, said in a statement that the Mayuree Naree was “fired upon by Iranian fighters”.The Mayuree Naree’s operator, Precious Shipping, said the vessel was struck by “two projectiles of unknown origin” while sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire and damaging the engine room.The three crew members reported missing were believed to be trapped in the engine room, it said. The remaining 20 crew members were ashore in Oman.