Nineteen Indian seafarers stuck in Yemen for two weeks are finally on their way home. The Indian Embassy says all of them are safe and in good health.
Updated: 9 November 2026, 10:45 IST
Quick Read
- Nineteen Indian seafarers stranded in Yemen’s Hodeidah and Sana’a have been evacuated, the Indian Embassy said on Sunday, 8 November.
- All 19 are safe and in good health, and they are on their way back to India. No arrival time has been shared yet.
- It is not clear if these 19 include the 14 Indians from a yacht incident off Yemen on 23 October.
Nineteen Indian seafarers are on their way home after two weeks stuck in Yemen. The Indian Embassy in Yemen said on Sunday, 8 November, that it has evacuated all of them from Hodeidah and Sana’a. “All seafarers are safe, in good health, and on their way back to India,” the Embassy said in a post on X. It thanked everyone who helped make the evacuation happen.
Hodeidah is a port city on Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Sana’a is Yemen’s capital, inland. The seafarers had been stranded in the two cities for about two weeks. That means they were stuck there since around late October, as fighting between Yemen’s Houthi group and Saudi Arabia flared up again.
What the Embassy said
The Embassy’s post was short. It said the evacuation was done. It said all 19 are safe and in good health. It said they are on their way back to India. And it thanked “all concerned for their valuable cooperation and continued support”. That is all the official word so far.
What the Embassy did not share: the names, the ships, how they got stranded, the route out, or when they will land in India. Outlook India notes none of that was in the announcement. Families know their people are safe and moving. They do not yet know the exact hour of return.
The Hindu, India TV, and Business Today all reported the same Embassy post on 9 November. There is no second official source yet.
Also read: Houthi attacks hit Riyadh airport, Hormuz ships — Indians affected
The 14 on the yacht: a separate group?
There is one open question. On 23 October, the Indian Embassy said 14 Indian nationals aboard a yacht near Hodeidah were safe. That yacht was caught in an incident off the Yemeni coast. The Embassy said then that it was in touch with the parties involved to find out what happened.
Are those 14 part of the 19 who were just evacuated? No one has said so. Business Today, Outlook, and Times Now all say the same thing: it is not clear whether the two groups overlap. Do not mix them up. The 19 are seafarers stranded in two cities over two weeks. The 14 were on one yacht in one incident. They may overlap. They may not. Until the Embassy says more, we count them as two separate pieces of news.
That matters. If the 14 are inside the 19, only five more people were stuck on land. If they are separate, 33 Indians were in trouble off Yemen in three weeks. We cannot pick one. We do not know yet.
Why this region is risky for Indians
Yemen sits on the Red Sea, on one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Thousands of Indian seafarers work on ships that pass through these waters. When fighting rises, they are the ones caught in the middle. Last Wednesday, 4 November, the Foreign Ministry said India has lost 23 nationals in the West Asia conflict, including 15 seafarers, Times Now reports.
Here is our own timeline of how Indian seafarers got caught in this crisis this autumn. Each row comes from our own posts or the reports cited below:
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 12 October 2026 | Houthi attacks hit Riyadh airport and ships near Hormuz; Indians affected (our post, 12 October) |
| 23 October 2026 | Embassy said 14 Indians aboard a yacht near Hodeidah were safe |
| 4 November 2026 | Foreign Ministry said 23 Indians lost in the West Asia conflict, 15 of them seafarers (Times Now) |
| 8 November 2026 | Iran exempted Indian ships from its Hormuz curbs (our post, 8 November) |
| 8 November 2026 | 19 seafarers evacuated from Hodeidah and Sana’a; all safe, on their way home |
The pattern is plain. The danger has not gone away. Ships still sail past Yemen every day, and Indian crews still sail on them. One evacuation does not make the sea safe. It only shows the Embassy is watching, and can act when Indians get stuck.
Also read: Iran exempts Indian ships from Hormuz curbs
What happens next
The 19 seafarers are travelling back to India now. No flight or ship details have been shared. The next update should come when they land, or when the Embassy names the route. Families should watch the Embassy’s X account, @IndiaInYemen, and the Foreign Ministry for the next word.
For other Indians working on ships near Yemen, the advice stays the same: stay in touch with the Embassy, follow its alerts, and keep family phone numbers updated. The sea route past Yemen is still open, but it is still risky.
FAQ
Who are the 19 Indian seafarers?
They are Indian nationals who work on ships. They were stranded in Hodeidah and Sana’a in Yemen for about two weeks. The Embassy has not shared their names or the ships they worked on.
Are they home now?
Not yet. The Embassy said on 8 November that they are safe, in good health, and on their way back to India. No arrival time has been confirmed.
Are the 14 yacht passengers part of this group?
We do not know. On 23 October the Embassy said 14 Indians aboard a yacht near Hodeidah were safe. Reports say it is not clear if those 14 are among the 19 just evacuated.
Also read: Brent crude falls 8.7% as India gains
Sources
- Business Today — ‘All seafarers are safe, in good health’: Indian Embassy confirms evacuation of 19 nationals stranded in Yemen (9 Nov 2026)
- India TV — 19 Indian seafarers stranded for two weeks in Yemen safely evacuated, on way back home (9 Nov 2026)
- Outlook India — India evacuates 19 seafarers stranded in Yemen after two weeks (9 Nov 2026)
- The Hindu — Morning digest, 9 November 2026: 19 Indian seafarers stranded in Yemen evacuated (9 Nov 2026)
- Times Now — 19 Indian seafarers stranded in Yemen for 2 weeks evacuated safely, returning home (9 Nov 2026)
Sasanka Sekhar Pradhan is the founder of India Presents, an India-focused news site. He covers daily box-office trackers, India news, economy explainers, sports previews and festival guides — in simple English, so readers across India can follow fast-moving stories without jargon. His focus is what a story means for the reader: the number that matters, the source behind it, and what happens next. India Presents publishes daily, with day-trackers updated as new figures come in.
Pingback: Second Indian dies in Riyadh airport attack