A sailor detained for more than nine months by Iranian forces has told of how he feared he would "die in jail" after being subjected to brutal treatment as missiles exploded nearby.
Paul Justin, 27, was among 16 crew who were held in the notorious Bandar Abbas prison after authorities intercepted their vessel over fuel smuggling allegations.
They were finally released in May, prompting relief among the seafarer community, who continue to call for an end to “unfair seafarer criminalisation” and demand the release of all sailors being held in Iranian jails.
The exact number of men still being held on ‘fuel smuggling’ charges is not known.
The National has spoken to seafarers and relatives of crew aboard the merchant tankers Harbour Phoenix and Valiant Roar who were arrested last year and released over the past few months after serving time in the prison.
“They put guns on our chest, put us in handcuffs and kept us inside a cargo room for 10 days before taking us off the ship,” Mr Justin, an oiler who was part of the Harbour Phoenix's crew, told The National.
“They treated us very, very badly. They treated us like animals. We suffered too much for nine months and seven days," said Mr Justin, who returned to his home in a southern Indian village in June.
"When the war started, every hour we heard bombs, missiles near the jail. I was scared of dying in jail. It was huge explosions like 20-30 gas cylinders exploding at the same time.”
Seafarers face 'unprecedented hardship'
Iranian forces boarded ships and detained sailors even before the war, on allegations of smuggling fuel.
Since the war began on February 28, Iran has released about 30 sailors of different nationalities following mediation by governments, according to maritime groups. Nineteen sailors have been killed in 70 confirmed incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and Middle East over the past six months, according to the International Maritime Organisation.
“Seafarers caught up in the conflict near the Strait of Hormuz are already facing unprecedented hardship and stress and it’s disgraceful that we’re seeing the scourge of unfair seafarer criminalisation come on top of this,” Fabrizio Barcellona, seafarers’ section co-ordinator for the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) told The National.
“While we’re grateful to see that Iran has released a number of seafarers it has arrested, the seafarers should never have faced this situation – far too often, seafarers who are simply following company instructions become the scapegoats for satisfying public opinion or making political statements, when they have done nothing wrong, nor do they know anything about what they are being charged with.”
Plea for stricken sailors
Now at home with his family, Mr Justin cannot forget sailors from other vessels who were packed into a prison cell with him.
“Save the seafarers from this tragedy. Let them come home. They are sailors like me, they are being blamed, it’s not fair,” he said.
“There are sailors who have been inside for more than two years. I still have nightmares because I think of the sailors still stuck in jail. They were from India, Syria, Egypt, the Philippines. We were 23 people in one narrow, small room.”
‘Inside my heart was pain’
The trouble for the Harbour Phoenix crew began when the tanker headed from Iraq to Oman ran into engine trouble on July 14 last year.
Mr Justin said the Palau-flagged vessel was in international waters when they were warned by an Iranian navy vessel to stop, boarded for inspection and forcibly taken to Jask port on Iran’s southern coast.
“That day we were all very scared,” said Mr Justin on his third voyage. “They had guns, they demanded money. Money was the main point, they kept asking for money, they kept saying we are smugglers. Whatever our officers explained, they did not accept.”
The men were imprisoned in Bandar Abbas from August 19 last year. After two hearings, 10 Indians, three Pakistanis, two Indonesians and one Tanzanian were given a five-year sentence and a penalty of $7.5 million per person for smuggling diesel. The crew and the company operating the ship denied the charges.
“I lost hope when I heard the judgement; I thought my life was finished, totally finished,” he said. “Every day I prayed for our release. But inside my heart was pain, I had a very heavy feeling inside my heart.”
Mr Justin suffered from a bout of chicken pox in jail. He saved money sent by the shipping company to call home for a few minutes each week.
“They gave us fish water rice to eat. I spent money to call home, it was expensive. The balance I kept to buy biscuits – that is how we survived,” he said.
When the bombing got close
On day one of the war, February 28, the men counted 11 missiles, then lost count of the explosions in the days that followed.
“Every day it felt like the bombs were getting closer,” Mr Justin said. “Everything would shake, we felt the vibration, the bombs were too near us. We were always scared.”
His family relentlessly emailed the government, shipping representatives and the owners so the sailors were not forgotten.
“It is as if we were living in the dark, our mental condition and depression was getting worse,” his mother Hepsiba Florence said. “We were walking like the dead. What did my son do? He was doing a job to earn money for the family. Why put sailors in jail?”
The men were released on May 25 this year. India’s Directorate General of Shipping confirmed the sailors were released after months of diplomatic engagement.
After two months at home, Mr Justin has signed up for a voyage to West Africa. “I must work so I must continue to sail,” he said. “The sailors inside the jail keep coming into my mind. I will send letters to governments so they too get out.”
'In the line of fire'
Experts and families said seafarers were easy targets who deserved protection.
“Just imagine if somebody puts a gun to your head and all your crew is in the line of fire,” said Captain Vinod Panwar, a master mariner and auditor speaking from a vessel while en route to Australia.
“Seafarers are soft targets. I feel very sad about what is happening in the Strait of Hormuz. The crew are being criminalised, and for what? You cannot say, ‘they are collateral damage’. What happens if seafarers stop doing their job? Your whole world will stop.”
His cousin was among 18 seafarers on the merchant tanker Valiant Roar, which was seized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in December last year for allegedly smuggling diesel fuel. Some crew were jailed in Bandar Abbas and others detained on the vessel. The 16 Indians, a Sri Lankan and a Bangladeshi national were released in April.
“This is totally wrong. These men did not have illegal cargo, yet they were charged,” Capt Panwar said. “Seafarers just run the ships, get instructions from the company to load and discharge the cargo.
"If you want to criminalise someone, criminalise the ship owner or the operator buying the cargo, not the seafarer. It cannot and should not be the seafarers because they are simply doing their job. They cannot say they will not take this cargo from this point to this point – then what is my job on board?”
He called governments to act on behalf of the seafarers, many of whom suffer from psychological trauma.
“When these guys came back, I could see the terror on their faces,” Capt Panwar said. “They were traumatised. They had to go to counselling.
"I urge ship owners and governments not to wait for a crisis – emergency response and evacuation arrangements should be made in advance. Don’t force crew to go into war zones. The international community should come together and protect seafarers.”
