Again, another Indian merchant ship was in trouble in waters near Iran, but this time they targeted an LPG carrier which was known as DISHA, and once again, the country breathed a sigh of relief when officials confirmed that every single Indian on board had survived.
On Friday, the Embassy of India said that the Mozambique-flagged vessel, which carries the IMO registration number 8818219, was struck while sailing through Iranian territorial waters. The ship contained 28 Indian nationals who were working on it. In a statement put out on social media, the mission said it had checked in with local authorities and could confirm that all the crew members had come through unharmed.
The embassy did not spell out who was behind the strike or how badly the ship itself was damaged. What it did say was that it would keep a close watch on the situation and stay in contact with the concerned authorities until things settled down.
A Dramatic Distress Call
Details that surfaced later painted a far more tense picture than the embassy’s brief statement let on. Radio recordings picked up on a public maritime channel, and later shared by the Chinese news agency Xinhua, appear to capture the final minutes before the attack. In the recordings, someone identifying as a US military operator can reportedly be heard warning a merchant vessel that it was sailing in a “non-compliant” manner by heading toward Iranian waters, and cautioning that its engine room could be fired upon if it did not change course. Moments later, a voice identifying itself as the Disha can be heard reporting that the ship had come under fire from unidentified missiles and appealing for urgent help.
Not Just A Single Case
This is far from the first scare Indian seafarers have faced in the region this year. Since the US-Israel military campaign against Iran began in late February, the waters around the Strait of Hormuz have turned into one of the riskiest shipping corridors in the world. Attacks on the tankers MKD Vyom and Skylight in early March killed three Indian sailors. Another Indian crew member died when a dhow caught fire in May. A US strike on the tanker MT Settebello in June cost three more Indian lives, and an assault on the vessel GFS Galaxy in mid-July left one Indian sailor missing. Just days before the DISHA incident, Iranian missiles had slammed into two UAE-flagged tankers, killing one Indian sailor and injuring six others.
How Did The Government Respond?
A day before the DISHA attack, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had already flagged growing alarm over the safety of merchant shipping in the Gulf. He said attacks on seafarers, civilian ships and maritime infrastructure simply could not be accepted, and called for international waterways to remain open and safe under international law.
The Directorate General of Maritime Administration echoed that stand, saying the safety of Indian seafarers and the security of Indian-linked vessels remained top priorities for the government.
For now, the 28 crew members of the DISHA are safe. But with the toll from these Gulf attacks steadily climbing, the incident is a fresh reminder of just how dangerous the job of a merchant sailor has become in this stretch of ocean.
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