On December 8 final 12 months, Captain Vinod Parmar acquired a distressing name from his brother, who was commanding a tanker, Valiant Roar, close to the UAE. A panicked Captain Vijay Kumar, his voice trembling, stated his ship, with 18 crew members, was being chased by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in worldwide waters. The road went useless. What adopted, based on testimonies by households of the seafarers, was unprovoked firing by the Iranian navy, seizure of the tanker, and the disappearance of 10 crew members. One-and-a-half months later, they continue to be reduce off from their households and the skin world, with the newest bloody unrest in Iran solely including to the tensions.
India At the moment spoke with the households of the Indian crew members for whom every passing day has become an agonising wait. Weeks have handed with little assist from the federal government or the Indian embassy in Iran. The web blockade amid the raging protests towards the Khamenei-led theocratic regime, which has left round 3,000 useless, has solely difficult issues. Left with no different choice, the households have now knocked on the doorways of the Delhi Excessive Court docket with a writ petition. The courtroom has directed the Centre to file a standing report.
VOYAGE TURNS INTO NIGHTMARE
All of it started on the afternoon of December 8, 2025. The tanker, Valiant Roar, operated by Dubai-based Glory Worldwide FZ LLC, was working in worldwide waters close to the UAE’s Dibba Port. It was the primary time that the tanker set sail after being moored alongside its sister vessel, MT Coral Wave, attributable to a technical defect, Captain Parmar informed India At the moment. Other than 16 Indians, the crew included a Sri Lankan and a Bangladeshi.
The vessel was continuing in direction of Khor Fakkan within the UAE to hunt additional technical help when the captain discovered that they have been being chased by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, essentially the most highly effective unit of Iran’s armed forces. This, regardless of the tanker being effectively in worldwide waters.
Amongst these on board was Anil Kumar Singh, the chief officer of the vessel. Recounting the incident, Singh’s spouse, Gayatri, stated she might hear gunshots when he referred to as her in panic at round 3 pm on December 8.
“All the things was regular once I spoke to my husband on the morning of December 8. Later, at round 3 pm, he referred to as once more and stated the Iranian navy was chasing their vessel. After a while, I might hear gunshots, after which the cellphone went clean,” Gayatri informed India At the moment.
The gunfire induced seen injury to the tanker and in addition left some crew members injured, Captain Parmar stated whereas recounting the sequence of occasions relayed by his brother. What adopted was a minimum of a nightmare for the crew. The Iranian navy personnel then boarded the vessel, assaulted the crew members and held them hostage.
The cost by Iran was that the ship was smuggling six million litres of diesel. Nevertheless, the tanker was solely carrying very low sulphur gasoline oil (VLSFO), Captain Parmar stated. The Iranians additionally rejected the pattern evaluation report that stated the fabric was VLSFO and forcibly took management of the vessel. It was taken to Bandar-e-Jask, a key Iranian port alongside the Gulf of Oman.
CRAMMED INTO A SINGLE ROOM, PHONES SEIZED
From there, the crew’s ordeal solely deepened. “All of the 18 crew members have been confined to a single mess room on the vessel. They have been allowed to make use of the washroom solely below armed escort. Cellphones, laptops, and all different gadgets have been confiscated,” Captain Parmar stated. Solely the captain of the vessel was allowed to make requires a couple of minutes every day.
The relations of the crew stated neither formal detention orders nor the grounds for the seizure have been issued by the Iranian authorities to this point. By the way, India and Iran are each signatories to the Maritime Labour Conference, 2006, which governs the rights of seafarers.
With little data trickling out, the households first approached the Directorate Common of Transport (DGS) on December 12. The matter was then escalated with the Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) and the embassy in Tehran. The MEA stated it was conscious of the state of affairs, and efforts have been underway to safe the discharge of the seafarers.
The subsequent communication got here on December 17. The Indian embassy in Tehran suggested the households to method the consulate in Bandar Abbas, below whose jurisdiction Bandar-e-Jask falls. Nevertheless, there was no excellent news. Repeated requests for consular entry to the Indian crew have been denied by Iran.
The state of affairs took an alarming activate January 6. Ten of the 18 crew members have been taken inside Iran on the pretext of recording their statements. Nevertheless, they have been arrested and despatched to Bandar Abbas jail. Amongst them have been the chief officer Anil Singh, the second engineer, and quite a lot of junior engineers.
That night, Gayatri acquired a quick one-minute name from her husband. The chief officer stated that he and 9 others have been jailed on false expenses of smuggling. There have been no calls since then.
“My son has despatched 20–25 emails to the PMO in search of assist, however has acquired no response. I’ve not slept peacefully for the previous one-and-a-half months,” she stated whereas breaking down. Her solely request is for her message to achieve Exterior Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
SLOW PROGRESS ON GROUND
Nevertheless, progress on the bottom has been sluggish, with the households of the crew members oscillating between hope and dread. Whereas Gayatri has been fortunate sufficient to talk to her husband, the household of Ketan Mehta, the third engineer onboard the vessel, has been at the hours of darkness.
Shivani Mehta, Ketan’s sister, stated the household had no contact with him because the vessel was seized by Iran. She got here to know in regards to the horror from the vessel’s operator solely after Ketan was arrested and despatched to jail in January.
“All we all know is that he’s now not on the ship and has been taken away by Iranian authorities,” Shivani informed India At the moment. The information was an excessive amount of to take for Ketan’s mom, a coronary heart affected person. She additionally needed to be riefly admitted to the hospital after her situation worsened. Ketan, who’s the elder among the many three siblings, is the only real incomes member of the household.
“The every day information of intensifying unrest in Iran has solely heightened our nervousness. The stress has taken a extreme toll on our mom,” she additional stated.
On the ship, the remaining eight crew members are struggling to outlive with little or no meals. Parmar, the brother of the captain of the vessel, stated they’d solely been supplied water by the Iranian authorities and have been surviving on rice and dal.
“Meals provides are practically exhausted, with rations more likely to final solely one other two to 3 days,” he stated. This was the final message relayed to him by his brother.
Captain Parmar stated the extended detention and uncertainty, amid the violence in Iran and the thrill of a battle, have induced extreme misery and brought a heavy psychological toll on the crew.
On Thursday, the MEA stated it was making preparations to facilitate the return of stranded Indian nationals from Iran. Evacuation flights are more likely to be despatched quickly. The households will hope that their husbands and brothers to some are amongst these making their journey house.
– Ends
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