Sailors, trapped in Iran for two years, return

Arham Shaikh and Ashish Sakpal left the city in 2019 for the UAE and from there they went to Iran for training, hoping to work as sailors. However, in Iran, they were exploited, first by the ship owner who made them work without a salary for over a year, even after their tourist visa expired. Later, when they finally got their salary, an agent took all of it as payment for sending them back home. However, he left them on ship without electricity for four months, until the Maritime Union of India rescued them.

When they started, Shaikh and Sakpal didn't know each other, and the only common link between the two was a Chembur-based agent through whom they had secured the job and who facilitated their travel to the UAE, from where they went to Iran. Shaikh said that when he reached the UAE to work as a sailor in September 2019, he was kept in a hotel for 15 days. He was then informed that the ship he wants to work on is in Iran. So, he was transferred to Iran, along with Sakpal. There, the owner took away their passports and did not pay them any salary.

They lose contact with family

They had travelled from India on a tourist visa, and had a one-year contract to work on the ship. A year later, they wanted to return home, as their visa had expired. They asked the ship owner for their passports, but he claimed that he had lost them. Without money, they lost contact with the family, as they could not recharge their mobile phone.

Arham Shaikh (pink shirt) and Ashish Sakpal (blue shirt) with their families after returning to India

Here, in Mumbra, Shaikh's mother Shagufta Parvez hadn't heard from her son for a while and got worried. She then approached the police, but he could not be traced. She then contacted the Maritime Union of India (MUI) May 2021, which took up the matter and collected the related information. The MUI, a union representing merchant navy officers, learnt that he was working on a ship in Iran without a salary. The union contacted Shaikh through the Indian embassy, and it started the process of bringing the seafarers back home in August.

When their ship owner was contacted by the Indian embassy, he paid them their 16 months' salary and asked them to leave, said Shagufta. Shaikh and Sakpal needed to pay a fine for overstaying their visa, but didn't know how much exactly. They met an agent who promised to help them return to India and took all their salary for the purpose. However, the agent abandoned them in a ship at Bandar Abbas Port.

A hefty fine

The families later learned that they needed to pay Rs 2.75 lakh each for their return home. While they managed to arrange the huge amount, the seafarers spent four months in a room on the ship, which did not have electricity. They were surviving on solar power, Shaikh said.

A diplomat in the Indian Embassy in Iran, Sudhakaran, helped the two children a lot, said Shagufta. He traced them, got their mobile recharged and thanks to him, we were able to talk to our children again, she added. "We had lost contact with Arham and didn't even know whether he was alive or not. I thank Sudhakaran and the MUI for their support to bring him back," Shagufta told mid-day.

Shaikh told mid-day, "I had gone there to work, but didn't know something like this would happen. When the ship owner came to know that the Indian embassy was asking for information about us, he removed both of us from there."

Returned last week

"For four months, Ashish and I stayed in a room on the ship where there was no electricity. We lived in the dark," Shaikh added. Sakpal, a resident of Thane, said they were together from the UAE and were each other's support during the difficult times. "For four months, we used to cook and eat the food that was there in the room. There was light during the day, but it was completely dark at night... After contacting Sudhakaran, he himself started taking care of us. He used to recharge our mobile phones and took care of our needs, because of which we got in touch with our families."

"We didn't have money to fly back to India. The MUI bought our tickets, helping us to return home," Sakpal added. They returned to India on February 12, 2022, once the families were able to arrange the money. MUI General Secretary Amar Singh Thakur told mid-day, "We went through the proper channels to find out where both the men were. After finding out their location, we contacted the consulate and brought them back."

2019
Year the duo went to Iran

Feb 12
Day Shaikh and Sakpal returned to India from Iran