Indian Sailor Missing After Ship Attacked by Iran's IRGC Confirmed Dead

JAKARTA - A sailor from India who was reported missing after his ship was attacked on Sunday (12/7) was confirmed dead.

Herambh Karmarkar (30) was serving as a third mechanic on the MV GFS Galaxy ship in the Gulf of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, when the ship was attacked by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

"While the other 10 Indian crew members were rescued, Karmarkar's brother - who was on duty in the engine room at the time - was declared missing," the seafarers' union, the Forward Seamen's Union of India, said in a statement.

"His death was confirmed by the ship's operator to his family on July 15, 2026," he continued.

This week, India instructed ship owners and operators not to assign Indian sailors to ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz, following the return of the tense situation in the region.

According to government data, India is the third largest provider of seafarers in the world, with more than 300,000 seafarers working on various global shipping fleets.