Vinay Yadav has spent years working on oil tankers, from South Asia to Africa. It’s a dangerous job on a normal day — but his latest voyage became his most perilous yet.
After picking up diesel oil in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year, the vessel he was working on started its voyage across the Persian Gulf, headed for South Africa. On Feb. 28, as the ship was preparing to cross the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced over short-wave radio that the United States and Israel had launched a war in the country — and that Iran was closing the Strait.
“It was a surprise for all of us,” said Yadav, speaking to MS NOW from Agra, India. “And then we started counting: one day, then two days, then weeks, then months, and then we were like, yes, this is going to be a long, long stay here.”
As a result, Yadav said he and the ship were stuck for seven weeks near the strait, one of an estimated 20,000 seafarers on roughly 2,000 ships still stranded at sea, according to the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations’ maritime agency.
Iran has proposed allowing ships from friendly nations to use the waterway, but only after paying fees. The U.S. has responded by blocking ships from entering or leaving the strait, and has cautioned shipping companies that any passage fees paid to Iran could trigger U.S. sanctions.
“In the night, we could see the missiles getting intercepted. In the daytime, we could see the naval vessels, we could see the aircrafts. So, yes, we were frightened, we were very afraid,” he said.
Footage obtained by MS NOW and shot by seafarers stranded in the region shows vessels burning in the night after an apparent strike, with huge plumes of smoke rising in the sky. CCTV video from one ship shows another ship being hit near its bridge as a crew member runs for cover.
In late April, Iran’s navy said it had seized at least two merchant vessels. Iran is also believed to have laid mines along the strait, which experts believe could take months to clear.
The IMO said at least 10 seafarers have been killed so far. The Forward Seamen’s Union of India is expressed concern that many more could be in danger.
“It’s not a question of only three seafarers. There are still hundreds of seafarers out there,” said Manoj Kumar Yadav, secretary-general for the FSUI. “There are hundreds of Indian seafarers on small vessels, especially the offshore vessels, the tugboats. These seafarers are not accountable, many of their data is not available with the Indian government, because they joined in the non-seafarer category.”
Another crew that spoke to MS NOW described seeing hundreds of drones and missiles, some dangerously close to their ship.
As they sat stranded for weeks, they began to run out of food.
“We all the time calling, ‘captain no have food. captain no have rice,’” said seafarer Tithi Chiranjeevi, who was recently repatriated to India and spoke to MS NOW on a video call from Mumbai. He added that the crew was forced to ration food by eating only one meal a day.
President Donald Trump cited humanitarian concerns when he announced the short-lived Project Freedom, the U.S. plan to help guide stranded ships out of the strait.
“Many of these ships are running low on food, and everything else necessary for large-scale crews to stay on board in a healthy and sanitary manner,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Within days, Trump announced the operation would be suspended by “mutual agreement,” saying “great progress” had been made in negotiations with Iran.
Both Yadav and Chiranjeevi finally made the long journey back home to India — but they were the lucky ones. The vessels they were on remain stranded, and replacement crews have been rotated in.
Yadav and Chiranjeevi are now urging the world not to forget about the stranded seafarers who have kept global trade moving.
“Everybody is talking about the nations fighting each other, the ships trapped, the global supply is disturbed, but nobody is actually talking about the sailors,” he said. “Think about the seafarers. They also have families.”
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