$300m Worth Seafood Stuck in Indian Ports

Visakhapatnam: Pavan Kumar, national president of the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI), said that the escalating war between Iran and the Israel-US partnership has affected seafood exports from India to West Asian countries.

Seafood ready for export worth 300 million US dollars, which constitutes approximately 8 percent of total exports, was stacked in various ports of the country due to the war. AP basket constitutes 60 percent of total exports. India exports seafood to Bahrain, Dubai and Muscat, of which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an important hub. India exported seafood worth US$ 278.31 million to the Middle East in fiscal year 2024-2025. Major products include frozen shrimps, fish and dried products, for which demand is at its peak during the current Ramadan season.

Pavan Kumar said exports to European countries have not been affected so far as ships are allowed to pass through the Suez Canal. It accounts for 18 percent of exports to European countries. “If the Suez Canal gets blocked, cargo to the Middle East as well as Europe has to be transported via South Africa, which will increase the freight tariff significantly,” Pavan Kumar told his correspondent in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. However, exports to the US have not been affected so far. The US is the largest market for Indian seafood, importing 3.4 lakh tonnes worth US$ 2.71 billion recorded in fiscal 2024-25. “Seafood exports from India are periodically affected. We have lost exports worth a billion US dollars due to the Covid outbreak, Trump tariffs and now the escalating Middle East war,” Pavan Kumar said.

According to SEAI, seafood exports to the US fell about 6.3 percent in value and nearly 15 percent in volume in the April-November period of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last year, due to a sharp increase in tariffs that rose as high as 50 percent at one point.

Indian Navy is searching for Iranian ship crew

Visakhapatnam: The Indian Navy is still searching for the missing crew of the Iranian naval ship that was hit by a torpedo from a US submarine on Wednesday.

A statement from the Eastern Naval Command late on Thursday evening said that a distress call was received from IRIS Dena to MRCC Colombo in the early hours of Wednesday, as reported by the Sri Lanka Navy. The ship was operating 20 nautical miles west of Galle under the responsibility of Sri Lanka. Upon receiving information, the Indian Navy began search and rescue operations, starting with long-range maritime patrol aircraft at 10 am on Wednesday to augment the search efforts led by Sri Lanka. Another aircraft with air-launch life rafts was also kept ready for immediate deployment.

INS Tarangini, operating in the vicinity, was deployed to assist in rescue efforts and reached the search area at 16:00 on Wednesday. By this time rescue operations had been undertaken by the Sri Lankan Navy and other agencies.

INS Ikshak also sailed from Kochi to increase search efforts and remains in the area to search for missing personnel as a humanitarian measure for shipwrecked personnel.

In the statement, it was stated that coordination with the Sri Lankan side continues in search and rescue efforts.