Nineteen Indian seafarers evacuated from Yemen and heading home, embassy says

Nineteen Indian seafarers stranded in Yemen for about two weeks have been evacuated and are on their way back to India, the Indian Embassy in Yemen said on Sunday. The seafarers had been in the Yemeni cities of Hodeidah and Sana’a. The embassy said all 19 were safe and in good health, and thanked those who had helped arrange their departure.

“The Embassy of India to Yemen has successfully evacuated 19 Indian seafarers,” the mission said in a post on X, according to India Today and The Hindu. It did not provide further details in the supplied reports about the route used or the timing of their arrival in India. The evacuation occurred days after India said that 14 nationals aboard a yacht involved in an incident off Yemen’s coast were safe.

Both publishers said it remained unclear whether those 14 people were among the 19 seafarers now returning home. On October 23, the Indian mission had said it was in contact with relevant parties while working to establish the circumstances surrounding the yacht incident near Hodeidah. The vessel was reported to have been close to Yuqar Island in the Red Sea.

Some Arab media outlets had quoted Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree as saying that Saudi forces targeted the yacht and that Houthi forces were involved in rescuing the 14 Indians. The supplied reports present those claims as statements attributed to the Houthi spokesperson, not as independently verified findings. The evacuation comes against a backdrop of renewed confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi movement.

India Today and The Hindu reported that Saudi Arabia had intercepted Houthi missiles and drones, while Saudi-led coalition forces had carried out airstrikes in Yemen. The escalation has raised concern about a wider conflict after a period of relative calm associated with a 2022 truce. The Hindu said the latest violence had also affected civilian and energy infrastructure, while both reports highlighted the implications for shipping security.

Hodeidah lies near the Red Sea, and the surrounding waters include the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a major international maritime route. The reports said the renewed attacks and retaliatory strikes have increased concern about the safety of commercial shipping in the area. The embassy’s announcement confirms the safe evacuation and health of the 19 seafarers, but leaves two issues unresolved in the supplied material: whether they are connected to the yacht case and what precisely happened to that vessel.

India’s mission has not publicly linked the two groups in the statements cited.