New Delhi: An Indian-flagged commercial vessel carrying 13 Indian nationals sank in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen on Tuesday (August 4) after being hit by a projectile, opening a third maritime front where Indian seafarers are now facing danger, after attacks on commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz and in the Black Sea earlier this year.In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Indian-flagged mechanised sailing vessel Faize Noore Oliya came under attack in the Red Sea off Yemen on Tuesday and subsequently sank.“We condemn the attack on the Indian flagged commercial vessel, MSV Faize Noore Oliya that sank in the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen on August 4, 2026. All 13 Indian nationals have been rescued,” the ministry said.The MEA said the Indian embassy in Riyadh was coordinating with Yemeni authorities regarding the crew’s safety and thanked the Yemeni authorities for their assistance.Asserting that the continuing attacks on commercial shipping in the region were “deeply worrisome”, it stressed that “the targeting of commercial shipping in the region must end, and free and unimpeded navigation and commerce through the international waterways in the region, in keeping with international law, must be restored at the earliest”.Union shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the vessel had been struck by a projectile near Yemeni waters, causing it to capsize and sink.There was no mention of the perpetrator of the attack in either of the statements, but it is likely to be the Houthi rebels.Calling it an “unprovoked attack on the defenceless mechanised sailing vessel”, Sonowal said all 14 seafarers aboard, including 13 Indians, had been rescued by the Yemeni Coast Guard and brought to the port of Mokha.“I have instructed the Director General Maritime Administration to take immediate steps in coordination with all agencies to ensure the absolute security of Indian seafarers in the region and provide all necessary assistance to the rescued crew,” he said in a post on X.The sinking makes the Red Sea the third war-adjacent shipping corridor this year where Indian seafarers have come under direct threat.Earlier this year, the Strait of Hormuz became one of the most dangerous waterways for merchant shipping after the outbreak of the US-Iran war and Iran’s subsequent restrictions on commercial navigation through the strategic chokepoint. At least 13 Indian seafarers were killed during attacks on commercial vessels in and around the Gulf during that conflict, prompting India to repeatedly call for restraint and the protection of maritime commerce.Separately, at least five Indian seafarers were killed in July in strikes on merchant vessels in the Black Sea, including four aboard the bulk carrier MV Golden Leo off Odesa on July 19 and the chief officer of the MV Omorfi at Novorossiysk.Two more Indian crew members remain missing after the MV AGN Ragnar was struck on July 25, and 13 Indian seafarers were reported stranded aboard the MV AMIR1 at Chornomorsk as of late July.Even as traffic through the Hormuz remains sharply below pre-war levels, shipping companies have increasingly relied on the Red Sea as an alternative route. That option has also come under growing pressure after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement announced on July 20 what it described as a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, expanding attacks on shipping linked to Saudi ports and opening a new maritime front in the regional conflict.The Houthis control much of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow gateway linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The waterway is among the world’s most important maritime chokepoints, carrying an estimated 12% to 15% of global seaborne trade and serving as the southern entrance to the Suez Canal route.Shipping intelligence firms have warned that attacks on both the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea now threaten the two principal maritime routes connecting Gulf energy producers with Asian and European markets.Recent shipping data has shown commercial traffic through both chokepoints falling sharply, with many vessels switching off their automatic identification system transponders while transiting high-risk areas or rerouting around Africa despite significantly longer voyages.Shipping data reported by Reuters showed the Indian-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier Desh Vaibhav crossing the Red Sea over the weekend with its transponder switched off, carrying about two million barrels of Saudi crude bound for Reliance Industries’ Sikka port.