As the U.S. and Iran attempt a peace deal, stranded sailors are waiting anxiously | US-Israel War on Iran News

Stranded at an Iranian port for nearly 10 weeks, Indian sailor Anish has unwittingly become an eyewitness to Iran’s war.

Anish arrived in the Shatt al-Arab waterway in a cargo ship, before the United States President Donald Trump launched “Operation Epic Fury” on February 28.

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He has been on board ever since.

“We’ve faced the whole problem here, the wars, the missiles,” Anish, who was given a pseudonym after agreeing to speak anonymously, told Al Jazeera.

“Our thinking has been seriously messed up.”

Some of their fellow Indian sailors have returned home by crossing Iran’s 44km border with Armenia, Anish said, but many others have remained behind as they await payment.

“Some are stuck because of their Indian agents; they are not getting their wages,” said Anish, referring to seafarers who hire seafarers, manage their wages and handle other duties on behalf of shipping companies.

Some are holding back because the Iranian delegation has said that we will not give you money to get to Armenia.

Anish said he has been using potatoes, onions, tomatoes and flat bread, but he heard that food and water on some ships are running low.

Anish’s plight is similar to that of nearly 20,000 seafarers who have been displaced since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the United States and Israel’s invasion of the country.

Before the war, the river served as one of the most complex waterways in the world, carrying about one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas, and one-third of the world’s marine fertilizer trade.

Despite the announcement of a long-term cease-fire between Washington and Tehran on April 7, maritime traffic has remained at a standstill amid frequent attacks in and around the waterway.

The US Central Command said on Thursday that it had “intercepted” and “neutralised” the Iranian threat in which three US Navy destroyers were attacked by missiles, drones and small boats while crossing the Strait.

Iran’s military says it has retaliated against US Navy warships after US forces targeted an oil tanker in its waters.

Tehran has also accused Washington of violating its ceasefire by carrying out airstrikes on civilian areas, including Qeshm Island.

Throughout the war, Iran has given safe passage through its waters for ransom, while continuing to fire commercial ships.

At the same time, the US has closed Iranian ports since April 13 in an effort to disrupt Tehran’s oil and foreign investment.

UK intelligence firm Lloyd’s List said on Monday at least four merchant ships had been evacuated since the previous day, while a cruise ship operated by French company CMA CGM also reported on Wednesday that it had been attacked while crossing the river.

The United Nations International Maritime Organization said that at least 10 seafarers have been killed since the war began.

Iran’s maritime federation says at least 44 Iranian sailors, including port workers and fishermen, have been killed since April 1.

Mr Trump said on Wednesday that US officials had had “very good talks” with Tehran and that a peace deal was “very possible”, but it remained unclear how close the sides were to any deal.

Although some ships have managed to get out of the Strait of Hormuz during the small war, every day brings new uncertainty for civilians who operate large oil, gas and container ships in the Gulf, according to working groups.

Last month, the Iranian military seized two foreign-flagged cargo ships and their crews, while the US Navy seized three ships linked to Iran in the Gulf and Indian Ocean.

The general secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, Stephen Cotton, who represents about 700 unions in 150 countries, says.

“Since the beginning of the year, we’ve had soldiers boarding ships like it’s the 17th century, and it’s scary,” Cotton told Al Jazeera.

“It’s crazy, because these are sailors. These are just workers.”

The IMO says that the situation faced by seafarers is an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, although the conditions faced by workers can vary greatly depending on the shipowner and whether they are cooperative.

While seafarers operated by the world’s largest shipping lines are receiving emergency pay and other benefits, some seafarers in small jobs are struggling to get paid or make ends meet, according to Cotton and other seafaring advocates.

“The reality is that you have two types of industries.” One is international trade – big gas, big oil, and big containers.

Saman Rezaei, secretary general of the ITF-affiliated Iranian Merchant Mariners Syndicate, said that many foreign seafarers in Iran work in “irregular organizations” that do not meet international standards.

Crew turnover has been a major problem for the fleet.

Under the 2006 Maritime Labor Convention – an international agreement ratified by 111 countries, including China, India, Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom – the maximum time a seafarer can be required to work is 12 months.

Although seafarers have the legal right to leave their ships beyond this time, the disruption has made their return difficult and expensive.

In some cases, especially on large cargo ships still at sea, departing crews must be replaced by incoming crews for safety reasons.

“With ships unable to move and planes disrupted, many have no choice but to stay on the ships even if they change their plans,” John Bradford, a former US Navy admiral and director of the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies in Japan, told Al Jazeera.

“This keeps them from being away from their families and creates all kinds of problems even though they continue to cause great harm.”

‘I told my staff how fast they were’

Steven Jones, founder of the “Seafarer Happiness Index,” said self-reported self-reported seafarer satisfaction has dropped by about 5 percent during the war.

Mariners have reported seeing Iranian drones and missiles flying low, Jones said.

“One told us: ‘What worries me the most is the idea of ​​a drone or a missile falling on us,'” Jones, who is associated with the United Kingdom’s Mission to Seafarers, told Al Jazeera.

Some sailors have reported food shortages and are planning evacuation routes, Jones said.

“Several officers said they had to prepare their teams’ exits: ‘I told my crew how to run, where to jump, and what to pack in case something happened,'” Jones said, quoting a sailor.

Earlier this week, Trump announced that the US would begin escorting the stranded ships from Monday, before suspending the operation for less than 48 hours to allow for peace talks despite attacks on the coast.

Even if the crisis reopens tomorrow, trade flows may take time to return to normal due to damage to regional infrastructure, heavy storage facilities in the Gulf and the return of imported goods, according to shipping and logistics experts.

For stranded sailors, there is also the question of finding a safe way out of the river, where Iran is said to have laid sea mines.

U.S. officials told the New York Times last month that Tehran had planted mines randomly and could not find them all.

“There has been a lot of speculation about the exact numbers, but the truth is that we don’t know; uncertainty is important in mine warfare, and creating uncertainty about threats is part of planning,” Scott Savitz, a senior engineer at the US-based Rand Corporation who has studied naval warfare, told Al Jazeera.

Savitz said it is possible to set up an evacuation route in a few days, but demining could take weeks or months.

“Iran has said that it has placed mines in and around the Strait of Hormuz, but it is possible that they have placed mines in other areas,” Savitz said.

The IMO announced at the end of April that it was working on a humanitarian evacuation program that prioritizes ships based on humanitarian needs, but that “all parties” involved in the conflict would need to avoid attacks for the operation to take place.

“It’s a very dangerous time,” said the ITF’s Cotton.

“We’re all saying the same thing – don’t travel unless you know it’s safe – but I don’t think anyone knows what’s safe anymore.”

The longer the war drags on, the greater the risk for sailors to abandon their ships without paying all outstanding wages, according to sailors’ advocates.

“This is a problem that has existed for a long time in the area, and when shipping disputes start or ship damage, then the temptation for ‘bad owners’ is to leave,” Jones said.

Anish, an Indian sailor, said he had not been paid by his Dubai agent for nine months.

He is supposed to receive the amount of US dollars at the end of this month, but he is worried that his company may hide the money from him.

“My last day is May 20,” Anish said.

“Maybe the company will give me my salary later,” he said. “I don’t know”