DELHI: Born to landless Indian farmers, Sunil Pooniya thought a job at sea would be his ticket out of poverty; instead, his first voyage saw him diving into the ocean to escape a deadly attack driven by the Iran war. For hundreds of thousands of Indians, merchant shipping jobs are a lucrative proposition despite the inherent risks. The attack on Pooniya&#39;s ship killed two fellow Indians, and the country&#39;s sailors are among the highest merchant maritime casualties from the Middle East war. Dalip Singh and Ashish Kumar Singh were the first Indians killed in the conflict, after their oil tanker was hit on March 1 by projectiles off Oman&#39;s Khasab port. &quot;There was a huge noise and the whole ship shook,&quot; Pooniya recalled. &quot;I thought something had gone wrong with the engine, but a missile had hit us,&quot; Pooniya added, who had been on the Palau-flagged MV Skylight. &quot;The whole ship was up in flames.&quot; Pooniya, 26, had travelled together with Dalip to Dubai, where they boarded the tanker. &quot;Everyone jumped into the sea wearing life jackets,&quot; Pooniya told AFP, now back home in India. &quot;I screamed for Dalip, but he was gone in the fire.&quot; India is one of the largest contributors of sailors on merchant shipping worldwide, with more than 320,000 active seafarers in 2025, according to the country&#39;s shipping ministry. Eleven merchant sailors have been killed in the conflict, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). At least four were Indian. Iran has restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about one-fifth of the world&#39;s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Feb. 28. The United States has imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports. &#39;Flurry of missiles&#39;&nbsp;Ships have been hit by projectiles and fired on in dozens of incidents, according to the British maritime security monitor UKMTO. An Indian-flagged ship carrying livestock from Somalia was reported hit and sunk off Oman on May 13 -- all 14 crew were rescued. Thousands of Indians are among the estimated 20,000 seafarers stranded by the Strait of Hormuz blockade. But Manoj Yadav, general secretary of the Forward Seamen&#39;s Union of India, said people just want to earn. &quot;We have a massive unemployment problem,&quot; he said. &quot;Being on a ship is a convenient way out for many, as it is a relatively well-paying job for the qualification it demands.&quot; Dalip, 25, a high-school graduate from the hot deserts of Rajasthan, was an engineering support member, on his second voyage. &quot;Year after year, he failed to get a government job,&quot; his younger brother Manoj Singh, 24, told AFP. Desperate for a better life for his family, Dalip borrowed money and enrolled himself in a maritime training program, and secured a job on a merchant ship. Dalip&#39;s salary -- $450 dollars a month -- was roughly three times the average income of a rural household. His brother Manoj Singh, a stone cutter, had been hoping to follow him to sea -- a plan he has since abandoned. &quot;My father died of shock after hearing that my brother was dead,&quot; he said. &quot;I cannot afford to leave home now.&quot; The family of the ship&#39;s captain, Ashish Kumar Singh, 38, from the eastern state of Bihar, is mourning his death. &quot;I just want the government to help me get my husband&#39;s remains back,&quot; said his wife, Anshu Kumari. &quot;How do I otherwise get closure?&quot; Raju Ram, 33, also from Rajasthan, has been on a tanker in the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates since April, waiting to cross the Strait of Hormuz. He has witnessed a &quot;flurry of missiles&quot; near his vessel. &quot;It is risky of course,&quot; he told AFP, by telephone from the vessel. &quot;But at least our families respect us for the money we send back home.&quot; Pooniya, meanwhile, says he has few other options. &quot;The jobs that people like us get in India, you are always stuck in a cycle of debt,&quot; he said. &quot;In this line of work, at least the money is good.&quot;

India

India is one of the largest contributors to the global merchant shipping workforce, with more than 320,000 active seafarers in 2025, according to the country's shipping ministry.

Indian sailors risk work at sea, as Iran war grinds on

<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ISLAMABAD: China&rsquo;s coast guard accused a Philippine vessel of ramming near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, but Manila denied it, alleging Chinese forces used water cannons that damaged its ship and injured a crew member.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a statement, China&rsquo;s coast guard said more than 10 Philippine government ships approached from several directions and entered waters around the shoal, which Beijing calls Huangyan Island. It said Chinese units deployed water cannons against the vessels.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The encounter came six days after China designated part of Scarborough Shoal a national nature reserve. The Philippine government, which calls the feature Bajo de Masinloc, filed a diplomatic protest.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Philippine Coast Guard said two Chinese coast guard ships hit a Filipino fisheries vessel, the BRP Datu Gumbay Piang, with powerful water cannons for nearly 30 minutes, causing &ldquo;significant damage&rdquo; to the captain&rsquo;s cabin and the bridge.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A shattered glass window injured one crew member, it said, while flooding triggered a short circuit that affected electrical outlets and five outdoor air-conditioning units, AP reported.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Philippine Coast Guard added that a Chinese navy warship broadcast a radio notice &ldquo;announcing live-fire exercises&rdquo; at the shoal, which it said caused panic among Filipino fishermen.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Philippine coast guard and fisheries ships were deployed to the shoal on Tuesday to provide fuel, water, ice and other aid to more than 35 fishing boats in the area. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A statement from the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Chinese action &ldquo;yet another coercive move to advance sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea at the expense of its neighbors.&rdquo; <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The U.K. and Australia also expressed concern, and the Canadian Embassy in the Philippines said it opposed attempts to use environmental protection as a way to take control over the disputed Scarborough Shoal.

Central Asia

China

China’s coast guard accused a Philippine vessel of ramming near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, but Manila denied it, alleging Chinese forces used water cannons that damaged its ship and injured a crew member

Articles tagged with "Ship"

Indian sailors risk work at sea, as Iran war grinds on

Chinese, Philippine ships collide in South China Sea near shoal

Indian sailors risk work at sea, as Iran war grinds on