Three Indian nationals among crew of vessel attacked in Black Sea

Bucharest, Oct 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) Three Indian nationals are among the crew of MV Royad Mammadov, a commercial vessel that was attacked on Monday in the Black Sea, resulting in the death of two foreign nationals on the crew, the Embassy of India, Bucharest, said.

“We have learnt of an attack today on commercial vessel MV ROYAD MAMMADOV in the Black Sea. As per preliminary information, there have been 2 casualties (foreign nationals), while some crew members have been injured and are undergoing medical treatment in Romania. It is further reported that there are three Indian nationals among the crew members,” the Embassy stated on X.

“Mission is in close contact with the relevant authorities to ascertain further details about the safety and welfare of the Indian nationals,” it added.

In August, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha briefed External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on the situation in the Black Sea during a phone conversation and discussed ways to restore the freedom of navigation in the area.

This came as the Black Sea has escalated into a highly volatile economic and military choke point. Both Russia and Ukraine are launching intensive, daily attacks on each other's commercial shipping, port infrastructure, and energy pipelines.

In a post on X, Sybiha said, "I had a phone call with India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. I briefed him on the difficult situation in the Black Sea as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine and intensified attacks on our ports and maritime routes."

He said that the attacks on the ships in the Black Sea not only affect Ukrainian food exports but also pose a direct threat to millions of families worldwide.

"I underscored that Russia's attempts to disrupt Ukrainian food exports pose a direct threat to global food security, reaching far beyond our region and putting millions of families worldwide at risk," Sybiha said.

–IANS

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Source: IANS