About 23,000 Indians work on merchant, harbour and offshore vessels across the Gulf region, and their safety has become a big issue at home
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenReutersPublished: 6:30pm, 14 Mar 2026Stranded for two weeks at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas as drones and missiles set ships ablaze nearby, 26-year-old seafarer Ambuj says he has not been home for six months and cannot wait to see his family.
Ambuj, who asked Reuters not to use his second name for security reasons, is one of about 23,000 Indians working on merchant, harbour and offshore vessels across the wider Gulf region, which is bearing the brunt of the war between Iran and the United States and Israel.
Hundreds of tankers and cargo ships have been waiting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian attacks have killed three Indian crew members and left another missing. The plight of Indian sailors in and around the strait has become a major issue at home, with New Delhi saying it is coordinating with multiple authorities, including in Iran, to ensure their safety.
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Oil tankers set ablaze by Iranian drones as shipping vessels targeted in Middle East war“We know how dangerous it could be to sail without a navy escort or without permission,” Ambuj said by phone from his ship, stuck with 15 other crew members and surrounded by more than 50 other ships.
“The company I work for has released us from duty and we are now waiting for safe passage because flights from Tehran are not operating. If we get clearance to sail to the Middle East or anywhere nearby, we will dock there and take the earliest flight home,” he said.
Bound for a Southeast Asian country, Ambuj said the crew panicked early in March when the captain received a warning over wireless from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that passing through the strait would have consequences.
The crew initially waited for clearance to sail, but it never came. They were now coming to terms with the possibility of being stranded for many more days or even weeks, Ambuj said.
India is the world’s third-largest supplier of seafarers, with more than 300,000 sailors working across global shipping fleets, according to government data.
