Intercepted at sea, phones cut off: Families of 16 sailors held in Iran move Delhi HC; captain from Meerut among 7 with families in UP

NOIDA: Families of 16 Indian sailors detained after oil tanker MT Valiant Roar was intercepted by Iran's Revolutionary Guard over a month ago are eagerly waiting for news of the seamen.

They have moved Delhi HC seeking urgent direction to the Centre to secure consular access. They have also sought the intervention from PMO and MEA. Among the petitioners are families of the ship's master Captain Vijay Kumar, who is from Meerut, and third engineer Ketan Mehta (27), whose parents based in Ghaziabad told TOI they didn't know for weeks that their son had been detained. Ship's captain from Meerut and officer from Gzb among 7 with families in UP Valiant Roar was intercepted Dec 8 off the port of Dibba in UAE.

Iranian authorities have alleged the vessel was involved in smuggling 6,000 tonnes of fuel, an allegation the families and crew representatives strongly contest.Capt Vinod Kumar, a merchant navy officer based in Noida and Capt Kumar's cousin, told TOI that the tanker was carrying 18 crew members at the time of interception - 16 Indians, one Bangladeshi and one Sri Lankan. "On Dec 8, my cousin called me from the ship," Vinod said.

"He sounded shaken and said, 'We are being chased'. He told me Iranian patrol boats were closing in fast. There was panic on board. Soon after that, the line went dead.

"Vinod said he heard nothing further for nearly two weeks. When Vijay finally managed to call again on Dec 22, the news was stark. "He told me that they had been detained in Iran," Vinod said. "All of them were confined, under armed guard. He is a professional officer with 25 years at sea.

There was no crime. Yet, he is being treated like a criminal in a foreign land," he said.Before that confirmation, Vinod had begun reaching out to Indian authorities. From Dec 12, he wrote to the Directorate General of Shipping, MEA, the Indian embassy in Tehran and the consulate in Bandar Abbas, under whose jurisdiction Bandar-e-Jask - the port where the vessel was later taken - falls.He also contacted the families of other Indian crew members.

On Jan 10, along with nine other families, he filed a petition before the high court on behalf of the 16 detained Indian sailors.For the Mehtas, who stay in Ghaziabad's DLF Colony, the reality of their son's detention surfaced slowly and painfully. They last heard from Ketan on Dec 31, more than three weeks after the tanker had been seized. During that call, Ketan told his parents that his six-month contract was coming to an end and that he would be home soon."Bas do-teen din aur, phir main ghar aa raha hoon (I'll be home in another 2-3 days)," his father

Mukesh

Mehta told TOI on Saturday. "We were counting the days. He didn't say anything about what happened. He knew his mother has a heart condition. We believe he didn't want to frighten her."Ketan left home on June 29, 2025 and joined MT Valiant Roar in Dubai on July 1. A third engineer with eight years of experience at sea, he had been working with the shipping company for two years.On Jan 6, Mukesh received a call from a woman he did not know. "She told me, 'Your son has been arrested by Iranian authorities'," he said. When he asked how she knew, she told him to contact the company. The family reached out to Ketan's shipping agent in Mumbai, who confirmed the tanker had been seized. Calls to the Dubai office where Ketan was deployed went unanswered. Two days later, Mukesh received another call, this time from Vinod, who told him families of the detained sailors were preparing to approach HC."That was the first time we spoke to other parents like us," Mukesh said. "Everyone was equally confused, equally desperate for information." When Mukesh contacted the shipping company again seeking clarity, he said the response was dismissive. "The official told us the company had no responsibility," he alleged. "He shouted at us and said we should go to Iran and bring our son back ourselves."Inside the Mehtas' home, time appears frozen. Rajni Mehta, Ketan's mother, sits quietly clutching a framed photograph of her only son.

Mention of her son makes her emotional.According to Vinod Kumar, the tanker was carrying only very low sulphur fuel oil, which he described as standard, legally loaded cargo.He said the tanker remained anchored near Dibba for several days because of a technical fault in the windlass, which prevented it from heaving anchor. "They were alongside a sister vessel for repairs and routine maintenance," he said. "By Dec 8, the issue had been fixed.

The ship had unmoored and was awaiting fresh sailing instructions when it was intercepted."Vinod alleged that Iranian patrol boats surrounded the tanker while it was transiting international waters en route to Khor Fakkan in UAE. IRGC personnel, he said, ordered the captain to lower the pilot ladder to allow boarding. "Vijay refused because they were in international waters and aware of the ship's right of innocent passage," Vinod said.He claimed the response was violent. "They opened fire. There was visible damage to the ship. Armed personnel then boarded the vessel. The crew was beaten, manhandled and treated like criminals."Repeated clarifications that the ship was carrying VLSFO were ignored, Vinod said, despite documents and sample reports being shown. The vessel was accused of smuggling and taken to Bandar-e-Jask in Iran on the Gulf of Oman.

"When Vijay managed to call me on Dec 22, he told me that all 18 crew members had been confined to a single mess room from day one," Vinod said. "They were allowed to use the washrooms only under armed escort.

Their phones, laptops, everything, was taken away."Between Dec 22 and Jan 6, Vinod said he received brief, tightly monitored calls. "They were allowed about half an hour on the phone. Vijay would just say they were fine.

He didn't want us to panic." Communication stopped altogether after that. Vinod said he later learnt that 10 crew members had been moved to Bandar Abbas prison, while eight remained on board the vessel.In Meerut, Vijay's family waits anxiously. His elderly parents are struggling to comprehend what has happened, while his wife Siniya and their two children - a 10-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter - keep asking when he will return, Vinod said.In a statement, the Indian embassy in Iran said the Indian consulate in Bandar Abbas wrote to Iranian authorities on Dec 14 seeking consular access and has repeated the request through diplomatic notes and in-person meetings in Bandar Abbas and Tehran, including at the ambassadorial level. Iran has also been urged to allow the detained sailors to communicate with their families.