For traumatised Indian sailors, Hormuz reopening brings little relief

Captain Raman Kapoor was loading oil at an Iraqi port when word reached him that the United States and Iran were at war. Within hours, his tanker was trapped north of the Strait of Hormuz with 24 crew members aboard, as missiles began arcing across the sky overhead. “We were stuck inside the war zone and everyone was so scared and clueless about what to do,” Kapoor, 48, recalled. “We all felt so trapped. We were helpless, totally helpless.” He and his crew would stay that way for 75 days. The Strait of Hormuz – a narrow channel through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passed pre-conflict – is now expected to partially reopen on Friday under a 60-day US-Iran memorandum of understanding, raising hopes that commercial shipping can resume. For the civilian seafarers caught inside the crisis since the US-Israel war on Iran began in late February, that is cause for cautious relief. But questions of safe passage, crew rotations and what follows the temporary arrangement remain unresolved, as concerns mount about the psychological cost borne by merchant crews thrust into conflicts they did not choose and were never prepared to face. Months under fire As captain, Kapoor spent his days under fire trying to hold his crew together. He held daily meetings. He listened. He encouraged the men to eat together, play games and mark birthdays when they could. But some broke down regardless. “Mental health was a major issue,” he said. “They were very sad and they were not able to concentrate on their job.” Eventually, the war for Kapoor came to an end on May 14, when he returned home to Himachal Pradesh state in India. His crew were not so fortunate. Most are still in the Gulf aboard the tanker he commanded, waiting for replacements who have yet to be found. For those still trapped, direct missile or drone strikes pose a threat that even modern double-hull tankers – designed to survive mine strikes – cannot necessarily survive, according to Gulf security analyst Leonardo Jacopo Maria Mazzucco of Gulf State Analytics, a Washington-based geopolitical risk consultancy. “The most immediate danger comes from Iranian missile and drone strikes against commercial shipping,” he said. “Particularly vessels perceived as linked to hostile states or operating near Gulf Arab ports.” An estimated 20,000 seafarers, port workers and offshore crews have had their lives upended by the conflict, according to the International Maritime Organization. The UN agency has confirmed 46 attacks on international shipping in and around the strait since hostilities began, with 14 sailors killed. The most recent deaths occurred aboard the MT Settebello, a Palau-flagged tanker struck by US forces off the coast of Oman on June 10. Military officials accused the vessel of violating an American blockade by carrying Iranian oil. Three Indian crew members were killed. One of the victims lived near Kapoor’s village. He knew the man’s uncle. “I spoke to his family,” Kapoor told This Week in Asia. “They are broken.” Fear that stays Captain Cheah Sin Bi understands that feeling. Now CEO of Malaysian tanker operator Orkim, he was a young officer in the Gulf during the Iraq war in 2003, watching aircraft carriers move through the haze and charred wrecks barely breaking the waterline. At first it felt like witnessing history, he said. Then the novelty wore off. “You realise that a missile could land on your ship,” Cheah said. “Nobody knows what could happen to you and you begin to think of your loved ones at home.” More than two decades later, he believes the industry has still not reckoned with what it asks of its workers. “Merchant seafarers are civilians,” he said. “They are not trained for warfare, they are not equipped for warfare, they are not taught how to defend themselves … Yet they are operating in areas where there are military forces, warships, missiles and threats all around.” Dr Sam Jeng Mun, a clinical psychologist at Serene Psychological Services in Malaysia, said seafarers confined to vessels in active conflict zones could enter a state of hypervigilance, their nervous systems permanently primed for danger, unable to stand down even in the quiet moments. Anxiety, emotional numbing and sleep disruption often follow. The most corrosive element is not the danger but the powerlessness. “The human brain and body are not designed to remain in a prolonged state of uncertainty and threat without recovery,” she said. The human brain and body are not designed to remain in a prolonged state of uncertainty and threat without recovery Dr Sam Jeng Mun, clinical psychologist Since the conflict began, the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network’s 24-hour SeafarerHelp helpline has registered a 15 to 20 per cent increase in calls and messages. Nearly a third concerned repatriation: sailors asking about their rights, reporting cancelled flights or struggling to secure permission to leave their ships and go home. “The primary support we are able to offer,” the network said in a statement, “is emotional support and a listening ear for any seafarer or families affected by the conflict.” Fleeing the sea For an industry that was already facing a worker shortage, this risks creating even greater upheaval. A shortfall of more than 26,000 licensed officers – encompassing captains, chief engineers and first mates, among others – was identified by the Baltic and International Maritime Council and the International Chamber of Shipping in their 2021 Seafarer Workforce Report. That deficit was projected to increase to almost 90,000 by this year, against an estimated total workforce of 1.89 million seafarers serving on more than 74,000 vessels worldwide. Orkim has pulled its ships from the Gulf. But Cheah’s concerns extend beyond the safety of his own fleet. He has championed mental health awareness programmes within the company since 2019, partly to reduce the stigma around psychological distress, partly because he believes the industry’s survival depends on confronting the issue honestly. “If these issues are not properly addressed, I would not encourage my own son or daughter to join the industry,” he said. Mazzucco also highlighted the reputational damage that the conflict could cause to the industry in the long run. “The long-term concern for the shipping industry is not an immediate labour shortage, but the gradual normalisation of high-risk operating conditions for civilian maritime labour,” he said. For Kapoor, who has worked at sea for nearly three decades, that normalisation may have already begun to set in. Last month’s homecoming felt different from all those that came before. “All my family, friends, everyone was so worried,” he said. “Returning home this time was … a different happiness.”

For traumatised Indian sailors, Hormuz reopening brings little relief

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}As the Strait of Hormuz edges towards reopening, sailors who survived 75 days under fire count the psychological cost of someone else’s war

As the Strait of Hormuz edges towards reopening, sailors who survived 75 days under fire count the psychological cost of someone else’s war