20,000 civilian sailors are stuck in the gulf that opens to the Strait of Hormuz : NPR

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For about two months now, the U.N. estimates some 20,000 civilian sailors have been stuck in the Persian Gulf. That is because it lies behind the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route that has been blocked since the latest Mideast war began. NPR’s Diaa Hadid reports from Mumbai.

RAMAN KAPOOR: I’m Captain Raman Kapoor from India. My ship is in the north part of Persian Gulf. We are total 24 crew member on ship, including myself.

DIAA HADID, BYLINE: It’s been difficult reaching sailors stuck in Gulf waters. Communications are wobbly, Sailors fear talking and angering warring parties by inadvertently revealing important military details. But Kapoor spoke to NPR on condition that we don’t identify the ship or the company he works for. He tells NPR producer Shweta Desai…

KAPOOR: We have become, you know, collateral victims of this war and we are stranded in war zone. And the most disturbing part is the uncertainty and helplessness. So we are waiting to go our home and meet our families as families are waiting desperately.

HADID: He says civilian sailors have largely been safe since the ceasefire was announced in the first week of April, but they’re stuck. They’re surviving on fresh water and food boated in from a nearby port.

KAPOOR: We are at anchor. We are out at sea and there is no way that we can step out of the ship.

HADID: He says to pass time, they play table tennis, chess. But Kapoor writes later in a WhatsApp message, monotony is harsh. The quiet now is a contrast to when fighting was at full steam, as one sailor, or seafarer, told the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED SEAFARER: It started like hell. It was total chaos. In the nighttime also, we could see the missiles getting intercepted. It was very dangerous. We got very panicked.

HADID: The U.N.’s International Maritime Organization shared the audio on its website. It did not identify the seafarer. Some seafarers, or sailors, and their ships have left the strait. Industry officials tell NPR that some countries and shipping companies paid Iran for their ships to pass.

SANTOSH KUMAR: (Speaking Hindi).

HADID: Other sailors paid their own way home, like Santosh Kumar, who was stranded at Iran’s Khorramshahr Port. He borrowed nearly $7,000 for an agent to drive him hundreds of miles across Iran – at war – to reach neighboring Armenia. From there, he flew to Dubai, then India.

KUMAR: (Speaking Hindi).

HADID: He says, “My family just wanted me home alive. After all, if you’re alive, you can make more money.” Still, the majority remain stranded, and the U.N. is calling for their evacuation. The State Department hasn’t responded to questions about whether the U.S. will help civilian seafarers leave the strait. And an Iranian official who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to media simply blamed the U.S. and Israel for the blockade. Diaa Hadid, NPR News, Mumbai.

(SOUNDBITE OF SHIGEO SEKITO’S “THE WORD II”)

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