"Black Sea attacks on merchant ships prompt India seafarer advisory"
Strategic Autonomy
India's foreign policy doctrine of maintaining independent positions, not aligning with any bloc, to maximise diplomatic flexibility.
Shadow Fleet
Sanctioned or opaque-ownership vessels operating outside standard insurance and regulatory frameworks, often to circumvent trade restrictions.
India and Russia share a 'Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership' rooted in the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation (1971), which has evolved across decades to encompass defence procurement, energy trade, and diplomatic coordination in multilateral forums. Russia has historically been India's largest arms supplier, and the two countries maintain annual summit-level engagement. When the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalated into full-scale war, India adopted a posture of strategic autonomy — abstaining on multiple UN General Assembly resolutions condemning Russian military action while simultaneously expanding purchases of discounted Russian crude oil, making India one of Russia's largest oil customers.
The Black Sea has been a central theatre of this conflict. Ukraine's port city of Odessa, with its seven ports and long coastline bordering Romania and Moldova, is the linchpin of Ukrainian maritime logistics. The UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative, which provided safe passage for cargo ships and enabled the export of over 197 million tonnes of cargo — including 117 million tonnes of grain — over three years, collapsed after Russia withdrew in mid-2023. Since then, commercial shipping in the region has operated without a formal safety framework, exposing civilian vessels to direct military risk from both sides.
The strategic logic behind Russia's intensified attacks on Odessa is economic strangulation. By targeting port infrastructure, civilian vessels, and shipping-related facilities — using missiles fired from occupied Crimea (annexed in 2014) and long-range drones — Russia aims to enforce a de facto maritime blockade, cripple Ukrainian export and import capabilities, and disrupt the civilian maritime traffic that sustains the Ukrainian economy. Ukrainian officials have confirmed that maritime exports have effectively halted following the sustained campaign, which has included at least ten air raid alerts per day over three consecutive weeks.
For its part, Ukraine has escalated its own asymmetric maritime campaign. Ukrainian drones have struck Russian oil tankers in the Sea of Azov, targeted the Sheskharis terminal at Novorossiysk — Russia's largest Black Sea oil-exporting facility, accounting for nearly 20% of Russia's crude oil exports — and intensified strikes on the Crimean Peninsula. …
Consider the following countries:
1.Bulgaria
2.Czech Republic
3.Hungary
4.Latvia
5.Lithuania
6.Romania
How many of the above-mentioned countries share a land border with Ukraine?
Which one of the following statements best describes the 'Polar Code'?
Recently, India signed a deal known as 'Action Plan for Prioritization and Implementation of Cooperation Areas in the Nuclear Field' with which of the following countries?
With reference to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, consider the following statements:
1.It was brokered jointly by the United Nations and Turkey.
2.It allowed safe passage for Ukrainian grain and cargo exports via the Black Sea.
3.It remained operational until Russia formally withdrew in mid-2023.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements regarding the 'shadow fleet' in the context of maritime security:
1.Shadow fleet vessels typically operate outside standard international insurance frameworks.
2.The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is the UN specialised agency responsible for regulating global shipping standards.
3.Seafarers on shadow fleet vessels are guaranteed the same protections as those on regularly flagged ships under UNCLOS.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Assertion (A): Targeting civilian cargo vessels not carrying military supplies in an armed conflict violates International Humanitarian Law.
Reason (R): The principle of distinction under Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions requires parties to distinguish between civilian objects and military objectives at all times.
Which of the following is correct?
The Sheskharis terminal at Novorossiysk, which has been targeted by Ukrainian drones, is significant because:
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