A chemical tanker carrying nine Indian seafarers, which was hit by a drone off Romania earlier this week, has reached the Port of Constanta, with all crew members safe, the Indian Embassy in Bucharest said on Saturday.
Indian Ambassador to Romania Manoj Kumar Mohapatra spoke with Romanian search and rescue agencies, including SAR Romania and MRCC Constanta, and the chief security officer of the tanker YARA J, the embassy said in a post on X.
“It was confirmed that all nine Indian seafarers on board are safe and the vessel has arrived at the Port of Constanta,” it said, adding that the ambassador assured the crew of the Indian government's full support.
On Friday, Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said YARA J was hit by a drone at Sulina Anchorage, Romania, on Wednesday.
He also said crude oil tanker MT ST 3, carrying 15 Indian seafarers, was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. All 24 Indian seafarers aboard the two vessels were safe, with no casualties or injuries, he said.
The government was monitoring both incidents and coordinating with the ship management companies. The identities of those behind the attacks were not immediately known.
The incidents come amid a series of attacks on vessels carrying Indian seafarers in the Black Sea, amid the Russia-Ukraine war, and the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route in West Asia affected by regional tensions.
Earlier this month, three Indian nationals survived an attack on the Turkish-owned cargo vessel MV Royad Mammadov in the Black Sea, outside Romania's territorial waters. The vessel was carrying corn from Ukraine's Izmail port to Ravenna in Italy when it was struck.
Two foreign seafarers were killed and several crew members injured in the attack. One of the three Indians was also injured and received treatment at Constanta County Hospital. All three subsequently departed for India.
India is the world's second-largest supplier of seafarers, with 311,936 maritime professionals working in the global shipping industry, according to the BIMCO-ICS Seafarer Workforce Report 2026. Indians account for 12.16 per cent of the global seafaring workforce, behind only the Philippines.
(With inputs from PTI)
