Bangladesh, Oct. 7 -- The latest attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the Black Sea should not be dismissed as isolated maritime incidents. They are becoming part of a disturbing pattern in which ordinary seafarers-men who have no role in the wars and geopolitical rivalries surrounding them-are increasingly being placed directly in the line of fire.

And Indian sailors are paying a particularly heavy price.

At least 12 Indian seafarers were injured in attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the Black Sea over the past two days. Eleven of them were aboard the Panama-flagged oil tanker MT On Peace, which was struck by an unidentified projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz off Oman on October...