E-Paper
Maharashtra sailor shares ordeal of crossing Strait of Hormuz amid US-Iran war | Watch
With all crew on board the ships safe and accounted for, a video from a sailor aboard one of the India-flagged ships shared his journey.
In the past week, at least three Indian-flagged ships and tankers have returned to their home bases as the West Asia conflict continues to keep the Strait of Hormuz blocked.
Of the three Indian-flagged ships to leave the war zone, two — Shivalik and Nanda Devi — crossed the Strait of Hormuz blocked by Iran and one escaped the UAE's Fujairah port after it came under attack. Track LIVE updates on the US-Iran conflict here
With all crew on board the ships safe and accounted for, a video from a sailor aboard one of the India-flagged ships shared the ordeal as the vessel passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
In a video posted on social media, Ajit, who was onboard an Indian ship, described his anxiety-filled days as the conflict between US-Israel and Iran escalated.
As he narrates the journey, the man says that the crew found out about the war between US, Israel and Iran while the ship was loading in Qatar. He adds that the moment they heard of the conflict, the ship began to ration its food.
‘Kept faith in god’
Once they reached the UAE, Ajit shares that the ship had to anchor in the middle of the sea. Adding that as ships near them were targeted, an atmosphere of fear and anxiety took over the ship crew.
As their journey continued, Ajit added that in the UAE, the ship was anchored for 10 days.
"After anchoring in Dubai for 10 days, we got a call from our company at 4am on March 13 - telling us that 2 ships have gotten permission to cross the Strait of Hormuz," he says in the video, adding that the ship decided to enter the strait that' same night.
Also Read | Diplomacy, dark mode: How India-bound ships made safe passage via Strait of Hormuz
"We kept faith in god and chanted 'Har Har Mahadev' before setting sail," Ajit can be heard saying in the video, adding that the crew had put up the Indian flag and kept safety hoses on the deck in case of a fire or attack.
The man then says that while Indian ships had permission to cross the strait, they were still in high-risk waters. He added that the GPS was not working, prompting the crew to rely on sextants for navigation through the waters.
After sailing in the strait for 14 hours, Ajit added that the crew were at ease when they saw 2 Indian Navy ships.
On March 17, the ship reached a port in Gujarat, India, touching home base, he said.
Ajit said the ship reached at two o'clock. While the ship was not named in the video, the timing mentioned seems to coincide with the docking of LPG tanker Nanda Devi, which reached India on Tuesday at 2am. HT could not independently verify if it was the same ship.
