India has ordered shipowners, ship managers and recruitment companies not to deploy the country's seafarers on vessels undertaking trips through the Strait of Hormuz amid renewed fighting in the region.
India is the world's third-largest supplier of seafarers, with more than 300,000 sailors working across global shipping fleets, according to government data.
"No deployment of Indian seafarers on vessels undertaking voyages involving passage through the Strait of Hormuz until further orders," the Directorate General of Shipping said in an order issued late Wednesday.
Two Indian seafarers have been killed in attacks on vessels in the region over the last three days, as tensions escalate in the Middle East, and multiple people died previously, according to government data.
Recent attacks on vessels have increased the risks faced by seafarers and commercial ships operating in the conflict-affected area "significantly", the shipping regulator said.
"In view of the heightened security situation in the Persian Gulf region ... the Directorate considers it necessary to adopt enhanced precautionary measures to safeguard the interests of Indian seafarers serving on board ships operating in the region," the order said.
It also directed masters of the vessels to ensure that they are sufficiently vigilant about the security situation in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and adjoining waters, and called for continuous monitoring of navigational warnings.
New Delhi also lodged a strong protest with Iran, summoning its deputy ambassador over one of the deaths on Tuesday.
More than 15,000 Indian seafarers are still stranded on the west of the Strait of Hormuz, said Manoj Yadav, general secretary of the Forward Seamen's Union of India.
"We can stop the new sets of crews from joining in those areas. But what about those thousands of seafarers who are still trapped in those deadly seas and under the threat to their lives? What is the government doing to take them out?", Yadav told Reuters.
