‘Those 80 days… every minute of my life was passing like hours. With every heartbeat, only one thought came, will we ever be able to see the face of our family again? These are the words of those Indian sailors who were first imprisoned in a foreign jail under a conspiracy and then returned to their country after defeating death amid the horrors of the Iran-Israel war. When Captain Vijay Kumar of MT Valiant Roar narrates his ordeal, his eyes fill with tears and his throat chokes. This story is not just about a rescue, but about honoring a father and coming out of the jaws of death.
What information did Captain Vijay give?
- Captain Vijay tearfully told that the most painful moment during his imprisonment was not when he was kept in jail, but when his innocent daughter read the news on the internet about the allegations of ‘diesel smuggling’ on her father’s ship. In a voice trembling with innocence and fear, the daughter asked on the phone – ‘Papa, is what you read true? Swear to me and tell me!
- Captain says, ‘At that time my heart was in my mouth. I started crying bitterly in front of the camera. I told my daughter to trust me. What could be a greater punishment for an honest sailor and father than seeing his own children question his integrity?
- On December 8, 2025, their ship was fired upon in international waters and they were arrested. But the real hell began when war broke out on 28 February. The Captain said, ‘We were in Bandar Abbas. The scene was exactly like the movie ‘Pearl Harbor’. Missiles were passing over our heads. When there were attacks by the Iranian Navy and missiles hit the nearby ships, our entire ship would tremble due to the vibration of the sea waves. We could not sleep for many nights, just kept running here and there on the ship to save our lives.
- When it became impossible to stay on the ship, he was shifted to a hotel with the help of the Indian Embassy, but even there death was not leaving him. There was a naval base on one side of the hotel and an air base on the other side. They used to stand under the open sky the whole night amid the echoes of explosions. The only way to return home was the Armenia border, which was 1800 kilometers away.
- The Captain said that Iranian officials had snatched everything from us. A taxi driver agreed to take him for $3000. When we set out on March 22, two drivers kept driving without stopping and bombs were falling all along the way.
In jail we would just miss our family and cry.
Masood Alam, the ship’s oiler, says that whenever there was a conversation in those dark rooms of the jail, only sobs could be heard. ‘My family believed that I was innocent, it was only this belief that kept me alive. That fear can be clearly seen in the eyes of Third Officer Venkat Rao and Fitter Venkatesh today.
Today, when these sailors have returned to their soil, they thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian Embassy with tears in their throats. FSUI General Secretary Manoj Yadav said that the fight is not over yet. Many Indians are still stranded there, who need help.
After spending 80 days of illegal imprisonment and 28 days under the shadow of war, these brave men have reached India today. For them, this is not just a return home, but a new birth.
Date-by-date: A raw diary of those 108 days spent under the shadow of death
(This timeline tells how this dreadful journey, which started on December 8, ended on Indian soil on March 29.)
- 8 December 2025: The Iranian Navy suddenly fired on the ship ‘MT Valiant Roar’ in international waters and detained the entire crew. He was falsely accused of diesel smuggling.
- 6 January 2026: The crew members were divided into two parts. 10 people were put in jail in Iran, while 8 members were kept imprisoned on the ship itself.
- 2 February 2026: First relief received. 5 members were released from jail and 3 members from the ship.
- 26 February 2026: The remaining 5 jailed members were also released and were kept in a hotel near Bandar Abbas Port.
- 28 February 2026: Beginning of the war. The war broke out the very next day after their release and these sailors were caught in the middle of missiles and bombings in Bandar Abbas.
- March 3, 2026: The remaining 5 members trapped on the ship were also rescued and brought to the same hotel. Now the entire crew was together, but explosions were happening all around.
- 22 March 2026: With the help of the Indian Embassy and arranging a taxi, these sailors left for the Armenia border, 1800 kilometers away. There was danger of bombing all along the way.
- 24 March 2026: Playing with danger, he reached ‘Julfa’ city of Azerbaijan. Here the Indian Embassy had booked a hotel for his stay.
- 26 March 2026: The last journey to Armenia border started from Julfa hotel at 12 noon. Reached the border in just 2 hours, but the paperwork took time from 2 pm to 11 pm.
- 27 March 2026: Crossed the border and traveled 10 hours to reach Armenia airport. Some sailors had flights on the same day, while some stayed in hostels.
- 28 March 2026: The remaining sailors flew from Armenia to India.
- 29 March 2026: Finally, after a long and dreadful struggle of 108 days, they reached India safely.
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