New Delhi, July 11 -- PHU QUOC, Vietnam - The speedboat had left the tourist island of Hon May Rut around noon, carrying 32 Indian visitors and four crew members back toward An Thoi port, a short run in the Gulf of Thailand. Roughly 400 metres from shore, with waves rising and the wind sharpening, the vessel capsized. By the time the bodies were counted, fifteen people were dead.

The accident on Saturday afternoon was among the deadliest maritime disasters to claim Indian nationals abroad in recent memory. Rescue crews pulled 21 survivors from the water, some of them hospitalised after being treated for injuries sustained in the capsize. But for 15 passengers - 13 men and two women - the passage ended in the sea.

The vessel was operated...