Worried families in India urge return of crew on ship seized by Iran

The families of 16 Indian seafarers held in Iran since December say they are anxious about the fate of their loved ones as the geopolitical situation in the region remains tense.

On 8 December, Iranian authorities seized an oil tanker, MT Valiant Roar, while it was in international waters. They alleged that the ship, operated by Dubai-based Prime Tankers LLC, was carrying 6,000 metric tonnes of illegal diesel. The company has denied this.

Apart from the 16 Indians, the crew has one person each from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Indian families of the crew members have approached the Delhi high court, asking it to issue urgent directions to the government to secure consular access and ensure their safe return.

According to documents submitted by India’s foreign ministry in a Delhi court, 10 of the Indian crew members have been arrested and moved to a jail in Iran while the others remain on board the ship. The ministry said it has now gained consular access to the 10 arrested men who are being held in Bandar Abbas prison.

“The Indian embassy has learned that the Iranian side will facilitate access to the six Indian seafarers on board the vessel once requisite clearances are received from the Iranian Navy/Prosecutor’s office,” it added.

Relatives of the detained crew members allege they have been confined to a tiny room on the vessel without proper food or potable drinking water. While most of their laptops and phones have been taken away, one phone was returned, allowing them to have limited contact with their families, they said.

The BBC has sent detailed questions to the Iranian embassy in Delhi about the allegations but has not received a response. Press Secretary Agha Mahdi Esfandiari said in a brief phone conversation that he had no information about Indian crew members being arrested or detained in Iran.

The BBC has also sent questions to the high commissions of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Delhi about the status of their citizens on the ship.

While Iran had granted approval for consular access to the 10 arrested Indians on 10 January, this “did not happen at that time, presumably, due to the prevailing situation in Iran”, according to the documents.

The political situation in Iran has been turbulent over the past few weeks. Widespread protests broke out in the last week of December, initially triggered by anger against economic grievances and later expanding into calls for a regime change.

Since then, there has been a significant build-up of US military forces in the region, raising speculation of a possible strike.

Jugwinder Brar, owner of Prime Tankers, told the BBC that the protests in Iran had prevented the company’s lawyer from meeting the crew. He also denied the allegations by Iranian authorities, saying that the vessel was carrying Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO), a marine fuel used for refuelling the company’s other ships in international waters.

“This is standard practice,” he told the BBC.

He alleged that Iran also seized another ship owned by Prime Tankers in December 2023 due to similar claims of carrying illegal fuel. Of its 21 crew members, 18 were released after nine months, but three remain imprisoned, he said.

Brar insisted that both ships carried valid documents for VLSFO and the company’s priority was to ensure the safe return of all crew members to India.

Brar and his companies, including Prime Tankers, are subject to US sanctions, with the treasury department alleging that many of his vessels operate as “part of Iran’s shadow fleet” to transport oil.

When asked why the US sanctioned him, Brar said: “America is an unchallenged country; no-one can question it. It can do whatever it wants.”

He also claimed that Iran may have seized his ship as they “probably thought that the ship had an American or Israeli owner”.

Domestic fuel prices in Iran are among the lowest in the world, mainly due to heavy government subsidies and authorities have said they routinely monitor maritime traffic around its waters to crack down on smuggling of fuel.

Families and company officials of the seized ship allege that the crew are being held in a small room, where they also sleep at night.

A relative of a detained crew member told the BBC on Thursday that food and fuel - which the Iranian navy last supplied nearly a week ago - are running low. The crew also does not have access to potable drinking water.

Another concern, the person added, is that most of the ship’s generators have stopped working. This has led to problems with the vessel’s waste disposal and cleaning mechanisms, leading to blocked toilets and unsanitary living conditions, they added.

The ship was seized weeks before many of the crew were due to complete their nine-month contracts in January.

Masood Alam, one of the 10 arrested men, is set to get married after Eid, which falls in March.

“We had a short call with him on 5 January. Since then, we have had no information. He was already suffering from fever when detained,” his father, Ibrar Ansari, told the BBC.

Gayatri Singh, wife of chief officer Anil Kumar Singh, accused Iran of using the crew as “human shields”.

Cargo disputes, she said, should be settled with companies, not workers.

“The company decides the cargo, not the crew. Sending them to jail is inhuman,” said Pradeep Singh, general secretary of the Sailors’ Union of India.

Source: BBC 

--Agencies