Indian Union Says Owners Are Pressuring Crews to Transit Hormuz
FSUI cites a master removed with immediate sign-off after refusing a passage to Fujairah
The Forward Seamen's Union of India has raised concerns that some shipowners are pressuring seafarers to sail through the high-risk zone in the Strait of Hormuz against their wishes, an apparent breach of the right to request repatriation under the Maritime Labour Convention.
Multiple vessels have come under fire from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in recent weeks, and a chief engineer was killed by an Iranian strike on a bulker overnight on Monday.
Against that background, FSUI has been campaigning to ensure that seafarers can exercise the right to choose whether to enter a designated war risk zone. In a video appeal released on August 17, the master of the foreign-flagged multipurpose support vessel AM Pioneer alleged that "the ship's operator is forcing us to cross Hormuz and go to Fujairah." He said the firm had begun making security arrangements with U.S. forces for a passage from Ras al-Khaimah to the Gulf of Oman through the contested southern lane, where Iran has targeted neutral shipping.
The master and his officers said they had signed on a month earlier to carry out a survey of the vessel, and had agreed to transit Hormuz only once the waterway was formally open and safe for all ships. The company later denied pressuring the captain to make the run, according to the master. The following day, FSUI says, the managers removed the captain with immediate sign-off.
Effective July 15, the Directorate General of Shipping of India ordered shipping and crewing companies not to send Indian seafarers on voyages through the Strait of Hormuz given the risk of attack. Iran has repeatedly targeted vessels that do not comply with its Persian Gulf Strait Authority traffic management scheme.
FSUI has pointed to both the hazard and the directorate's instruction, stating that "No seafarer should risk death for owners' profits or convenience. Immediate repatriation with full wages and dues is non-negotiable."
Indian seafarers make up more than 10 percent of the global mariner pool, and according to FSUI may account for an even larger share of the crew members currently waiting on the west side of the Strait of Hormuz.
