Indian sailors who were stranded by the conflict have now cleared the Strait of Hormuz, but many worry they may have no choice but to return to the Gulf for work.
India remains a leading source of maritime labor, supplying hundreds of thousands of seafarers to merchant vessels across the globe.
Since the start of the war, thousands of Indian seamen have departed the Gulf, with more than 3,600 receiving assistance from the country’s shipping ministry.
During the U.S.–Iran conflict, commercial traffic in the Gulf became a target, leaving several Indian vessels attacked and crew members killed or injured.
Even after an interim peace deal, many who escaped remain uneasy as sporadic violence persists and the Strait of Hormuz stays a volatile chokepoint.
Thirty‑one‑year‑old Sitaram Tandel, a native of a small fishing village in Gujarat, India, experienced the danger firsthand while serving on a Marshall Islands‑flagged bulk carrier.
In March, another vessel owned by his company, the crude tanker Safesea Vishnu, was struck, resulting in the death of an Indian crew member.
Weeks later, his own vessel came under attack.
“Our luck ran out,” he recalled. “It was early morning; I was preparing for my shift when we were hit.”
The crew escaped without physical injury, and he said his family felt relieved that he was home safely.
“No one died, but the entire crew fell into a deep depression afterward. It was a life‑changing experience, unimaginably scary,” he said.
“I don’t know what lies ahead. The attack has left me shaken and too scared to return to the Gulf, yet I have a family to feed,” he added.
Escape in the Dark
According to the shipping ministry, more than 320,000 Indian seamen were employed in global merchant shipping in 2025.
After the initial U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran in February, Tehran imposed an effective blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, putting any vessel in the wider region at risk of becoming a military target.
In June, a U.S. strike on a Palau‑flagged vessel off Oman killed three Indian sailors, while attacks on two other vessels with predominantly Indian crews left dozens more in need of rescue.
Later, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue with former President Donald Trump, urging the United States to guarantee the safety of civilian mariners.
Sailing through the Strait of Hormuz forced sailors to take extraordinary risks.
Ratheesan Kuttiyan, 45, a resident of Kerala in southern India, joined a Marshall Islands‑flagged cargo ship in March, expecting to depart from the Gulf.
“The previous crew refused to cross,” he said. “We tried hard to cross, but the fighting was too intense, and another vessel from the company was hit.”
When hostilities eased, crew members were required to sign documents confirming their willingness to undertake the voyage.
“Finally, in the dead of night we sailed through the danger zone,” he said, speaking to AFP via telephone while at sea.
Kuttiyan said he would return to the Gulf only if conditions improve.
“I will go back if the risk goes down,” he said. “I trust my company to make the right decision.”
Haridas Puthiyakodi, 49, also from Kerala, was aboard a Marshall Islands‑flagged cargo ship bound for the Strait of Hormuz when the vessel ahead came under attack, forcing his ship to turn back to Abu Dhabi.
“I didn’t tell my wife I was in the war zone,” he said, speaking from India.
“Now that she knows, she says I should never go to the Gulf.”
“If I had my way, I wouldn’t either – but then, I know as a seafarer you have to sail everywhere.”
Never Going Back
Veteran seafarer Tanel Hirenkumar Praveenbhai, 42, has logged more than two decades at sea and traversed the Strait of Hormuz countless times, transporting oil from the Gulf to China and Singapore. The war has reshaped his perspective.
He was among the thousands of Indians in the estimated 20,000 seafarers stranded by the blockade, having joined the crew of a Panama‑flagged oil tanker in Dubai in February.
“Two days before we were about to head to Singapore, the war broke out,” he said. “A helicopter crashed just 10 to 15 metres from our vessel, and several missiles passed at short range.”
The crew received orders to stay put and remained at anchor for nearly three months.
“Of course we were scared, but there was nothing we could do,” he said. Movement resumed only after the ceasefire, and the vessel departed on May 29 via Dubai, where he signed off.
“I am never going back to Hormuz again,” he said. “No amount of money is worth more than my life.”
