All 14 Indian nationals on board a yacht involved in an incident off the coast of Yemen are safe, the Indian Embassy in Yemen said on Friday, October 23. "Reports suggest that all 14 Indian nationals are safe and located around Hodeidah in Yemen. We will continue to work for ensuring their well being," the embassy said in a statement shared on X, IANS reported.
Source: IANS — All 14 Indian nationals aboard yacht off Yemen coast safe: Indian Embassy (Oct 23, 2026)
Reuters, reporting from Mumbai on Friday, carried the same embassy statement and noted that the mission had earlier said precise information on the 14 Indians was not available and that it was making attempts to establish the circumstances and facts of the October 22 incident. The embassy has not specifically commented on the source of the attack on the yacht, The Hindu BusinessLine reported.
A claim India has not endorsed
On Thursday, Yemen's Houthis claimed their forces were rescuing a boat carrying 14 Indians that had been attacked off Jabal Zuqar island near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, and blamed Saudi Arabia for the attack, Reuters reported. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the Yemeni Armed Forces would provide more details later, IANS reported. Saudi authorities did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on Thursday. Awaaz Punjab is reporting the Houthi account as a claim; neither India nor any independent source has confirmed who, if anyone, attacked the vessel.
Awaaz Punjab reported the Houthi rescue claim on Thursday, before the embassy's confirmation. Read: Houthis say they are rescuing boat with 14 Indians near Zuqar
Why Indian seafarers are in the line of fire
India is the world's third-largest supplier of seafarers, with more than 300,000 sailors working across global shipping fleets, according to government data cited by Reuters, which said more than a dozen Indian seafarers have been killed and three are missing in the Gulf and the wider West Asian maritime region since the Middle East conflict began in February. Earlier this week, an Indian national was killed in attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, including King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, and India's foreign ministry on Thursday condemned those attacks as "unacceptable" and said the embassy in Riyadh was in contact with Saudi authorities, IANS reported.
Awaaz Punjab reported India's condemnation and the Indian casualty in the Saudi attacks earlier this week. Read: India condemns Saudi attacks in which an Indian was killed