‘Rockets flew over our heads’: Ukrainian sailor who fled war trapped on ship in Strait of Hormuz

A Ukrainian sailor stranded in the Strait of Hormuz for more than two months has described the terror of Iranian rockets flying overhead as his crew found themselves caught in the crossfire of the US-Israeli war with Iran.

The senior assistant captain was on his debut voyage as first mate when hostilities erupted at the end of February, casting the region into a bitter conflict interrupted only in part by a fragile ceasefire agreement in April .

The sailor told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne on condition of anonymity how they could only watch on as three missiles “literally flew over our heads” as Iran opened fire on its neighbours on the afternoon of 28 February.

“We saw two downings and one ‘arrival’ near the airport in Dubai,” the captain said, adding that he was unmoved by the shelling after three years living through the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The first mate and his captain told the rest of the crew of nine Ukrainians and 13 Indonesians to bunker down and hide as missiles whistled over them.

“Some of the sailors were also scared ...

But the shelling didn’t last long, so everyone calmed down.”
The sailor said that their company instructed them to leave the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz.

Wending slowly south in a massive container ship, it took them some four to five hours to reach the strait as gunfire lit up both sides of the coast.

On their approach, vital internet connectivity cut out suddenly, leaving the crew with no way to contact the ship operator.

Their last instruction was to “go towards the strait”, the sailor told the outlet.

It would not be long before new voices came over the radio - the Iranians - warning them that “the strait is closed” and any attempts to cross it would be met with violence.

Sixty-seven days later, there are an estimated 23,000 civilians still caught up in the Iranian blockade, spread between upwards of 850 ships.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that ten civilian sailors have died in the Strait since February.

The sailors still waiting for news that would let them leave have adapted to life at sea.

The Ukrainian said it was about a month before the ship’s water for showers and laundry ran out.

Drinking water, stocked for about six weeks, were replenished in March with a small boat.

The sailor said 100 cubic metres of water would cost $13,000, double if brought on weekends.

“Of course, they bring it on weekends,” he said.

Internet was eventually restored, allowing the crew to contact their families.

The Ukrainian-Indonesian crew of the ship now tries to stay sane and pass the time by fishing for barracuda, swimming in an inflatable pool, using the gym and watching films in the evenings, the sailor told Suspilne .

Ankit Yadav, a seafarer from India, painted a bleaker picture, surviving on limited rations of tomatoes and potatoes with three colleagues.

The sailor, who is in his thirties, told Reuters that he could have left the conflict zone had their vessel received permission to sail to Oman and then be repatriated to India if not for the blockade imposed by the US Navy.

“The shipping company I work for is not ready to give us the sign-off because they do not want to pay higher air ticket prices, and we cannot afford to buy them on our own.

The only way out is the government’s help,” he said.

Salman Siddiqui, another Indian seafarer, is also at an Iranian port on a Comoros-flagged cargo vessel that was bound for Oman from Iran.

“The only thing we do here is plan how to spend the night and pray to God that we do not get hit during an attack,” Siddiqui said, speaking to Reuters from the vessel that is currently harboured at Khorramshahr.

“It is a kind of relief that a ceasefire is in place and we do not hear the same number of explosions like we used to see and hear earlier," he said.

"We have heard more than 100 explosions.

It is scary when you see projectiles flying and exploding very near your vessel.”
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