Indian Seafarers Among Dead in Hormuz Strikes as BAPS Marks Diwali in Mombasa
The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha center in Mombasa gathered the city Hindu community for its annual Diwali and Annakut celebrations in October 2025, marking the festival with traditional prayers and ceremonial food offerings. In a development that drew international attention to the Indian seafaring community, July 2026 brought news of Iranian missile strikes in the Strait of Hormuz that killed eight Indian crew members, among them one sailor aboard the tanker MT Mombasa.
🪔 BAPS Mombasa Hosts Diwali and Annakut Celebrations
On Saturday, October 18, 2025, the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha center in Mombasa, Kenya, hosted its annual Diwali and Annakut celebrations. The event took place at the BAPS center on Haile Selassie Road and brought together members of the local Hindu community to observe two of the most significant festivals in the Swaminarayan tradition. Annakut, meaning a mountain of food, is a ceremony in which hundreds of vegetarian dishes are prepared and ceremonially offered to the divine as an expression of gratitude. Lakshmi Pujan, the worship of the goddess of prosperity, was also observed as part of the Diwali festivities. The BAPS Mombasa center published a gallery of forty-eight photographs documenting the celebrations. The center operates under the global BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha network and is located at P.O. Box 81284-80100, Haile Selassie Road, Mombasa, reachable at +254 725 953145 and +254 722 722583. In addition to major festival observances, BAPS Mombasa has remained active throughout the year, with Satsang Examination results for March 2026 published in May of that year and an International Womens Day celebration held across BAPS centers in Africa in May 2026 under the theme Give to Gain. [1]
Indian Crew Member Killed as Iranian Missiles Strike Tanker Mombasa in Hormuz
An Indian crew member was killed and eight others were wounded on July 14, 2026, after two UAE national oil tankers were struck by Iranian cruise missiles in the southern shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz. The attack occurred within Omani territorial waters. The two vessels hit were the MT Mombasa and the MT Al Bahiyah, both operated by a subsidiary of ADNOC, the United Arab Emirates national oil company. The UAE Ministry of Defence confirmed the attack and stated that missile fire caused fires and structural damage to both tankers. Emergency response teams subsequently brought the fires aboard both vessels under control. The fatality and multiple injuries among the crew members highlighted the dangers faced by Indian nationals working aboard commercial vessels passing through one of the worlds most critical maritime corridors. Marine Insight reported the incident on July 14, 2026. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant portion of the worlds oil supply transits, has been a focus of heightened military activity involving US and Iranian forces. The attack drew particular attention because the stricken tanker bears the name of Mombasa, the Kenyan port city with a long-established Indian community. [3]
Death Toll Among Indian Seafarers in Hormuz Attacks Climbs to Eight
By July 14, 2026, the number of Indian seafarers killed in United States and Iranian military attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz had climbed to eight, according to a report by Arab News PK filed from New Delhi. The most recent death occurred when an Iranian cruise missile struck the MT Mombasa, one of two ADNOC-subsidiary tankers hit in a single day. The same strike injured eight Indian crew members aboard the Mombasa tanker, four of whom sustained serious injuries. Arab News PK further reported that since March 2026, a total of ten civilian ships staffed by Indian seafarers had been targeted in attacks attributed to US or Iranian forces. The tankers MT Mombasa and MT Al-Bahiyah were both operated by a subsidiary of ADNOC, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The reporting was authored by Sanjay Kumar and published on July 14, 2026. The repeated attacks on vessels crewed by Indian nationals drew attention to the particular vulnerability of Indias large merchant marine workforce operating in contested waters between Oman, Iran, and the UAE, and prompted monitoring by Indian officials in New Delhi. [4]
Sources: [1] BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha · [3] marineinsight.com · [4] Arab News PK