India, Sept. 25 -- This World Maritime Day, let us spare a thought for India's 300,000-strong seafaring workforce, increasingly caught in wars and piracy they had no part in starting

This year's World Maritime Day theme is "From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence", which sounds bureaucratic. Every year, the day reminds us that ships carry more than 80 per cent of world trade. For India, this year's theme is a stark indictment. The distance between rules on paper and safety at sea is now being measured in coffins.

India supplies more than 300,000 seafarers to the global merchant fleet: engine-room fitters, cadets and chief engineers whose wages sustain entire villages. Since the war on Iran began, at least ten Indian sailor...