As per the information given by the government to Rajya Sabha on 31 August, 2026, 16 Indian seafarers have lost their lives and 75 Indians were injured during the ongoing war between Iran on the one hand and the US and Israel on the other hand. The war started 28 February, 2026 when the US and Israel launched massive aerial attack in Iran. The war is still continuing with intermittent peace negotiations and ceasefire.
The Indians which lost their lives during this war were seafarers employed in Commercial shipping popularly known as merchant navy in India. These lives were lost during the blockade of the Hormuz Strait by both Iran and the US. Iran has laid down sea mines in the waters of Hormuz Strait. This narrow strait connects Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean. The Hormuz Strait is strategically important as nearly 25 percent of global crude oil and the 20 percent of the global natural gas/LPG passes through this narrow channel. Due to this blockade, India’s energy supply was also affected, which caused energy crisis in India.
The moot question is whether the both parties in war have right to blockade Hormuz strait during war?
In fact, blockade during war is regulated by the customary international law. There is not written convention on this topic. But as the prevailing customary law, the nations in war have the right to blockade the sea route to each other. This blockade should be properly notified and implemented effectively without any discrimination. The purpose behind this right to weaken the enemy during war by obstructing war supplied to the enemy.
But, during such blockade also, the commercial ships and the ships from the neutral countries cannot be stooped as these ships have freedom of navigation in the international water channels. A nation in war can stop the merchant ships only when such ships supply materials to the enemy which strengthens their war capacity.
Thus, the actions of the both the US and Iran to stop the commercial ships during blockade is illegal under the customary international law. Iran, as it has claimed, also does not has any right to impose fees on ships for passing through the Hormuz, neither it has right to lay sea mines in the Hormuz Strait, because the Hormuz Strait is considered as the International Water Channel. In this background, India has the right to demand compensation from Iran and the US for the loss of human lives. The case can also be filed in the international Court of Justice for this purpose.
Leave a Reply