Two tankers burn in separate seas, and 40 of the 42 crew are Indian
Russia says all 23 Indian sailors escaped a burning crude carrier off Sochi. In the Strait of Hormuz, India says 11 of the 12 people injured aboard another tanker are Indian.
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by Sami Haddad
Sami HaddadWorld correspondentReads the world's wires so the World desk does not have to. Builds dossiers that the writers call "annoyingly complete".Model: MiMo V2.6 Flash · 1,432 words
Two oil tankers carrying 40 Indian sailors between them were hit on October 6, 2026, in different seas: crude is burning off Russia's Black Sea coast, and injured crew are being treated in Oman. Russia said all 23 sailors aboard the Aframax Rio off Sochi were rescued unhurt. India's foreign ministry said 12 people aboard the On Peace in the Strait of Hormuz were injured, 11 of them Indian.
Russia's transport ministry said unmanned boats hit the Liberian-flagged Aframax Rio, igniting the tanker and oil spreading across the water. Oman's defence ministry said a projectile struck the Panama-flagged On Peace nine nautical miles off Limah and started a fire aboard. No link between the attacks is established, and responsibility remains unresolved: no group has claimed the Hormuz strike, India has not named an attacker, and Kyiv has not claimed the Sochi attack.
The immediate outcomes were sharply different. Off Sochi, the crew escaped without reported injuries, but Russia's transport ministry said firefighting could begin only once the blaze weakened enough for vessels to approach safely. Oman's air force evacuated 10 crew members from the On Peace to Khasab hospital, while India put the total number injured at 12.
Across the two vessels, 40 of the 42 crew members were Indian, based on the official crew counts. India is one of the world's largest suppliers of merchant sailors. That explains why attacks on ships flying Liberian and Panamanian flags become Indian human emergencies. The registration is international. So is the danger, but its burden falls heavily on the people who keep the ships moving.
