Indian Maritime Workforce (Indian Seafarers)

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Recent attacks on commercial shipping routes in the Red Sea and West Asia, which resulted in the death of Indian seafarers, have once again highlighted the vulnerability of India's maritime workforce and the urgent need for stronger institutional, legal, and diplomatic mechanisms to safeguard Indian seafarers working across the world.

Indian Maritime Workforce

India has emerged as one of the largest suppliers of maritime manpower globally and currently ranks second only to the Philippines in the Seafarer Workforce Report 2026, contributing more than 12% of the world's seafaring workforce.

As of June 2025, India had nearly 3.2 lakh registered seafarers, almost three times the number recorded in 2014.

Indian seafarers operate in a highly globalised maritime environment, serving on ships that are often owned, managed, insured, and registered under foreign flags. Consequently, they frequently remain outside the jurisdiction of any single country, despite making a significant contribution to international trade, global shipping, and India's foreign remittance inflows.

Challenges Faced by Indian Seafarers

Jurisdictional Complexity

The multinational nature of maritime employment creates significant jurisdictional challenges. A seafarer may be recruited in India, employed by a foreign shipping company, sail on a vessel registered under a foreign flag, and encounter emergencies in the territorial waters of another country. Such situations often create uncertainty regarding rescue operations, legal assistance, medical support, compensation, and repatriation, as responsibilities are divided among multiple jurisdictions.

Growing Maritime Security Threats

The deterioration of the global security environment has substantially increased risks for Indian seafarers. They are increasingly exposed to missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea and Black Sea, piracy and hostage-taking in the Gulf of Aden and West African waters, and the consequences of regional geopolitical conflicts, even though they are civilian workers engaged in commercial shipping.

Crew Abandonment

Crew abandonment has become a serious humanitarian concern. According to the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), Indian seafarers recorded the highest number of abandoned crew cases in 2025, with 1,125 crew members affected. Many abandoned seafarers experience non-payment of wages, shortages of food and essential supplies, and prolonged delays in returning home.

Weak Consular Protection

India's diplomatic assistance is largely organised according to geographical jurisdictions, whereas ships continuously move across international waters and multiple countries. As a result, Indian diplomatic missions often become aware of incidents only after emergencies have occurred, reducing the effectiveness of timely rescue and assistance.

Information Asymmetry

Many Indian seafarers enter into employment contracts without receiving complete information about the beneficial ownership of vessels, the validity of insurance coverage, international sanctions imposed on ships, the history of crew abandonment, or whether the voyage involves conflict-prone regions. This lack of transparency exposes them to avoidable risks.

Weak Enforcement by Flag States

Several vessels are registered under Flags of Convenience (Open Registries), where the flag states often fail to effectively enforce obligations under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 2006. Consequently, issues relating to payment of wages, crew welfare, working conditions, and repatriation frequently remain unresolved.

Government Initiatives

Seafarer First Initiative

Following the recent attacks in West Asia, the Government of India launched the Seafarer First Initiative to provide stronger protection to Indian maritime workers. The initiative extends assistance to all Indian seafarers in West Asia irrespective of the vessel's flag, establishes a centralised digital dashboard to monitor ships, security threats, and crew welfare, and assigns a dedicated liaison officer to each affected family for continuous communication and assistance.

High-Risk Area Advisory

Recognising the growing security concerns in the region, the Government has advised ship owners, managers, and recruitment agencies not to deploy Indian seafarers through the Strait of Hormuz until further instructions, thereby reducing unnecessary exposure to conflict zones.

Recruitment Agency Regulations

The Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) has prohibited licensed recruitment agencies from deploying Indian seafarers on 366 vessels associated with crew abandonment cases, unless prescribed compliance requirements are fully met. This measure aims to improve accountability within the maritime recruitment system.

Institutional Framework

The Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) serves as the principal regulatory authority responsible for certifying Indian seafarers and regulating recruitment agencies. India is also a signatory to the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 2006, which establishes internationally recognised standards relating to employment conditions, occupational safety, crew welfare, and repatriation.

Way Forward

Strengthening Institutional and Diplomatic Protection

India should establish a Permanent Maritime Consular Protocol that clearly defines institutional responsibilities from the receipt of a distress signal until the successful rescue, legal assistance, medical care, compensation, and repatriation of affected seafarers. Such a framework would enable effective coordination among Indian diplomatic missions, flag states, shipowners, insurers, and international agencies.

Dedicated maritime officers should also be appointed in Indian missions located at major global shipping hubs to facilitate quicker coordination with port authorities, hospitals, insurance providers, and local legal systems during emergencies.

Improving Transparency and Accountability

Recruitment agencies should be legally required to disclose complete information regarding the beneficial ownership of vessels, insurance status, sanctions history, previous crew abandonment records, and high-risk sailing routes before deploying Indian seafarers. Greater transparency would enable informed decision-making and reduce exploitation.

Indian seafarers should also be granted the legal right to refuse deployment to officially designated conflict zones without risking their employment or contractual rights.

Enhancing International Cooperation

India should deepen cooperation with other major maritime labour-supplying countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia through international organisations like the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Such collaboration can help develop common international standards governing deployment in conflict zones, crew abandonment, detention, and repatriation.

Institutionalising Real-Time Welfare Monitoring

The proposed digital monitoring dashboard should be expanded across all high-risk maritime regions, enabling continuous monitoring of vessel movement, threat perception, crew welfare, and emergency response. Regular crew welfare reporting and structured communication with families should become an integral part of India's maritime protection framework.

Conclusion

India's vision of becoming a leading maritime nation depends not only on developing ports, shipping infrastructure, and naval capabilities, but equally on protecting the Indian seafarers who sustain global maritime trade.

Achieving this objective requires stronger legal safeguards, transparent recruitment practices, proactive maritime diplomacy, real-time monitoring, and greater international cooperation. Irrespective of the flag under which a vessel sails, India's responsibility towards the safety, dignity, and welfare of its citizens must remain unwavering.