New Delhi: India on Wednesday (October 7) condemned a series of attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea that have put Indian seafarers at risk, after four ships carrying Indian nationals came under attack since Monday (October 6), leaving one Indian sailor badly injured and dozens more forced to flee damaged or burning vessels.“India condemns the attacks on commercial vessels, Togo-flagged Alfa Watan, Palau-flagged Able, and Liberia-flagged Aframax Rio,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the attacks were a “cause of deep concern” and calling for an “immediate cessation of such attacks”. The ministry said the targeting of commercial shipping, seafarers and civilian infrastructure “must end”.The latest incidents followed the October 5 attack on the St Kitts and Nevis-flagged MV Royad Mammadov, which India had condemned.The vessel, owned by a Turkish company and carrying corn from Ukraine’s Izmail port to Ravenna in Italy, was struck while sailing in the Black Sea outside Romania’s territorial waters. Two foreign seafarers were killed and several crew members were injured. All 3 Indian nationals survived, although one was injured and received medical treatment in Romania.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attributed the attack to Russian drones, but Romanian authorities have not publicly established responsibility.Speaking at a media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Wednesday that the Indian embassy in Bucharest was in contact with the three Indian sailors and Romanian authorities.The next day, two commercial vessels were attacked around 70 nautical miles, off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, inside the country’s exclusive economic zone. The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan suffered critical structural damage and sank, while the Palau-flagged Able caught fire. Bulgarian authorities said the attacks involved both aerial and maritime drones.The fate of the Alfa Watan’s crew remained unknown until Bulgarian authorities called off the search on Wednesday. Bulgaria’s Maritime Administration said that no survivors or bodies had been found and that rescuers had recovered an overturned boat, life jackets and equipment from the vessel. Reports on the number of people believed to have been aboard the vessel differed. Jaiswal said India was still awaiting information on the fate of the crew.There is no clear claim of responsibility for the Alfa Watan attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had not operated in the area and attributed the attack to Russia, describing it as a combined Russian assault using maritime and aerial drones.Bulgarian defence minister Dimitar Stoyanov, however, said Bulgaria could not confirm whether the drones were Russian or Ukrainian and that investigators would need to recover drone wreckage or receive a claim of responsibility before establishing their origin. Bulgarian prime minister Rumen Radev later said the nature of the attack and the ships’ course and cargo could point towards Russia, but that there was not enough evidence to establish this as fact.Russia, meanwhile, denied through its embassy in Sofia that the Alfa Watan and Able were among the vessels targeted by Russian forces on October 6.The other vessel, the Palau-flagged Able, had 18 crew members, including 7 Indians. All 18 were rescued with assistance from Bulgarian authorities after the ship caught fire. One Indian sailor suffered severe burns and is receiving medical treatment at the Naval hospital, while the remaining crew were taken to Varna.A third attack on October 6 involved the Liberian-flagged Aframax Rio, an oil tanker carrying an entirely Indian crew of 23. The vessel was attacked by an unmanned vessel near the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi and caught fire. The Russian Transport Ministry said all 23 crew members were rescued and that none was injured.Russian authorities described it as an attack by an unmanned vessel, while Ukrainian media identified the tanker as part of Russia’s shadow fleet and noted that it had been placed on Ukraine’s sanctions list in February.The latest attacks also came as India has claimed to have proposed to both Russia and Ukraine, specific measures linked to the war, including the safety of Black Sea shipping.The MEA spokesperson noted that external affairs minister S. Jaishankar had recently outlined India’s efforts to address “immediate concerns” of both sides over grain and energy exports as well as possible “non-attack possibilities”. “We have ongoing conversations with both Russia and Ukraine on this particular matter,” Jaiswal said.On Sunday (October 5), Jaishankar said India had gone “beyond advocacy” in its efforts to help end the war and was discussing with both Moscow and Kyiv the safety of shipping, grain and energy exports and possible “non-attack” arrangements.Indian sailors have faced heightened risks in two conflicted zones, with the strategic waterway of Strait of Hormuz weaponised by all sides since the war involving Iran, Israel and the United States began in February.A day earlier, MT On Peace, carrying 19 crew members, of whom 17 were Indian nationals, was struck with a projectile while going through the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman. Around a dozen Indian sailors have been killed, while more than 20 have been injured in the attacks on ships in West Asia.Last month, India, the second-largest source of seafarers, and Liberia, which hosts the world’s largest shipping registry, had launched a 25-country Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.