Chennai: The family of the Chennai youth Aditya, detained on board the British tanker Stena Impero seized by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19 night in the course of Iranian standoff with the West, is worried that the Indian and Tamil Nadu Governments “are not doing enough to get him back safely”.
There were 18 Indian crew members on board the ship, including Aditya from Tamil Nadu and Silambarasan of Puducherry. The rest were from Kerala and some other states in India, it is said.
The 27-year Third Officer on the ship has been in touch with the family, being permitted by the Iranian captors to phone once a day “just to reassure he is alright”. He has been working on this ship for the last four years without any incident or accident, said a member of the family who wished not to be named.
Aditya
“We do not want to say anything that could even remotely offend the Iranians who appear to be treating the captives quite decently. What we want to say is that we are rather upset with the indifference of our governments at the Centre and in Tamil Nadu”, said another relative, who also claimed that Kerala Government was “pro-active” in trying to get its men released from the vessel.
“The ship was seized at about 9 pm on July 19 and there was no word from Aditya for the next four days. We were pretty worried. Then on July 23, he called and said he was alright but fatigued by the stress of all that had happened now, and that he has been permitted by the captors to speak to family over phone for just a few minutes every day”, said the family member.
The family appealed to the Governments at the Centre and in Tamil Nadu to step up efforts through the Indian Mission in Tehran. Several Indian sailors on ships in the Gulf region have been caught up in increased tensions between Iran and the West.
