New Delhi, Aug. 15 -- Lieutenant Commander Shivam Kumar of the Indian Navy has been awarded the Shaurya Chakra for his bravery during a high-risk rescue and recovery operation aboard a damaged LPG tanker in the Gulf of Aden in October 2025.

The incident occurred on October 18, when the MV Falcon suffered an explosion about 113 nautical miles southeast of Aden, Yemen. The vessel was sailing from Oman's Sohar Port to Djibouti when the blast triggered a major fire, leaving around 15 per cent of the ship engulfed in flames and forcing its crew to abandon the tanker.

The incident took place amid heightened maritime tensions in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, where commercial vessels have faced repeated attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels amid the...