Blazing tankers and stranded vessels in the Persian Gulf highlight the perils faced by seafarers as they navigate the intensifying West Asian conflict. Iran is retaliating against US-Israeli strikes by raising costs to the global economy by targeting oil and natural gas facilities and tankers with missiles and drones, and restricting passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Around 20,000 seafarers remain stranded in the region on board ships “under heightened risk and considerable mental strain”, according to Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). India is significantly affected by all of this as it accounts for 9 to 12% of the global seafaring workforce. Around 22 India-flagged ships carrying about 611 Indian crew members are in operation in the Gulf. 76 Indian seafarers remain in three vessels east of the Strait.
Crisis at Sea
Our seafarers, however, are not restricted to India-flagged ships as three of them lost their lives when their tankers sailing under the flags of Marshall Islands and Palau were hit. Around 18 commercial vessels have been hit since the war began with about 110 tankers stranded in the Gulf. To be sure, the Indian government is concerned about this problem and is in regular touch with Iranian authorities to allow the safe passage of our merchant vessels through the Strait. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian.
So, too, has External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with his Iranian counterpart, Seyed Abbas Araghchi. Last week, two India-flagged LPG tankers were allowed to cross the Strait. Although there are positive signals in this regard from Iran’s envoy in India, a different take was provided by the representative of Iran’s supreme leader who stated that the world’s leaders have to come together to convince the US President to end this unjust war.
Perhaps it is realistic to operate on the basis that the Strait will remain closed as a “tool of pressure” as indicated by the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. Although the Directorate General of Shipping has repatriated 253 stranded seafarers, their plight is actually much more complicated as “they have no option not to serve as there are no facilities to relieve them and its unlikely that replacements are willing to travel to the Gulf”, according to K Sanjiv, a merchant navy officer with five decades of experience.
Escalating Risks
The risks for seafarers in the Gulf region thus are considerable. Although there are standard operating procedures and advisories from the DG of Shipping urging vessels entering high–risk areas to undertake comprehensive ship-shore security drills covering multiple threat scenarios, the reality is that when there is a missile or drone alert, the crew have no option but to seek shelter below the main deck and hope there isn’t a direct hit.
If the West Asia conflict gathers momentum, the biggest risks for Indian seafarers are of abandonment when ship owners cease all support to their crew and ships. India has the dubious distinction of globally topping the list of abandoned seafarers for the third year in a row last year. Most of them are in vessels flying flags of countries with scant respect for protecting labour rights. Sadly, this is also in prospect this year as indicated by the recent episode of 20 Indian seafarers stranded on a vessel near Iran’s Bandar Abbas amid active bombings as they posted social media appeals for urgent rescue.