"Two of the three foreign-flagged commercial vessels fired upon by Iran on Wednesday had a total of 22 Indian seafarers on board. All Indian seafarers aboard these vessels are safe," Mukesh Mangal, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways,told media here.

Iranian captured two container ships - MSC Francesca and Epaminondas - while a third vessel, Euphoria, was fired upon.

It was said that Iranian forces used crewed gunboats from the IRGC Navy. Masked gun men forcefully boarded ships and captured them. Ship tracking data later showed the seized vessels stationary near the Iranian coast.

Tehran described this as tit for tat as retaliation to a US naval blockade of Iranian ports and the capture of Iranian-flagged ships.

The Liberian-flagged container ship Epaminondas, which was signalling Mundra port in Gujarat as its next destination, had one Indian seafarer among its 21 crew members mostly Ukrainians and Filipinos. The seafarer is safe.

The MSC Francesca, bound for Hambantota in Sri Lanka, had no Indian crew members. The Panama-flagged container ship Euphoria, heading to Jeddah, had 21 Indian seafarers on board. All of them are reported safe, he said.

Mangal refrained from directly stating that the vessels were in Iranian custody.

However, he indicated their positions that a vessel on the western side of the Strait of Hormuz would be in Iranian waters and under Iranian control, while one on the eastern side would have moved out of the immediate conflict zone.

When asked whether the ships taken over by Iranian guards had Indian seafarers, Mangal said the positions of the vessels made it clear which ones were affected.

Tehran has claimed the vessels violated transit rules or ignored warnings, though maritime sources suggest at least one of the ships had prior clearance to pass through the strait.