At least 44 Iranian seafarers have been killed and 29 injured since the onset of the United States-Israel war on Iran, according to the head of the country’s merchant marine union. Among the deceased were 22 civilian sailors, 16 fishermen, and six dock workers, who lost their lives between February 28 and April 1, Saman Rezaei, general secretary of the Iranian Merchant Mariners Syndicate (IMMS), informed Al Jazeera on Friday.
Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify the list of casualties, which Rezaei stated was compiled by the Iran Ports and Maritime Organization and members of his union. He clarified that the list does not include members of Iran’s navy killed by US and Israeli forces. Rezaei submitted his findings in several letters of complaint to the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO) throughout March and April, attributing the deaths to “attacks by US and Israeli armies on Iranian ports and commercial fleets” across Iran’s territorial waters and the Gulf. His letters also reported that at least 29 Iranian seafarers were injured and nine are currently missing.
The IMMS, affiliated with the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), advocates for workers during negotiations with Iranian shipping companies. Since the war began, it has also provided crucial humanitarian, medical, and repatriation assistance to stranded seafarers. “The humanitarian crisis is affecting all seafarers in the Persian Gulf, including the crews of Iranian-flagged ships. However, they [Iranian seafarers] face a unique and terrifying set of pressures,” Rezaei emphasized.
He highlighted that seafarers are not only worried about dwindling supplies but also endure “severe psychological distress” after spending 60 days trapped in a war zone stretching from the Gulf to the Indian Ocean. According to the independent conflict monitor Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), US and Israeli forces have conducted over 3,000 air strikes across Iran since February 28, while Iran has carried out nearly 1,600 retaliatory strikes across the Middle East.
A US-Iran ceasefire has been in effect since April 8, yet the US separately initiated a naval blockade of all Iranian ports on April 13, aiming to halt Iran’s oil exports and pressure Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This vital waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s energy and gas exports typically flow, has been de facto closed since the war’s commencement, leaving 20,000 seafarers stranded in and around the strait for at least two months.
Despite the ceasefire, Iranian forces have continued to fire on ships attempting to exit the Strait of Hormuz, and on April 22, seized two Panama and Liberia-flagged cargo ships. Concurrently, US forces seized the Iranian-flagged MV Touska and detained its crew in the Gulf of Oman on April 19, with the US Central Command (CENTCOM) accusing the vessel of violating its naval blockade. The Touska is also reportedly subject to US sanctions due to its “prior history of illegal activity,” as stated by US President Donald Trump.
Rezaei informed Al Jazeera that those detained aboard the Touska included 23 crew members, two cadets, two women, and one child, though these figures could not be independently verified. He confirmed that the two women and the child were among the six members of the Touska released this week by US forces and returned to Iran. According to the IMO, Iran’s attacks on vessels in the Gulf or those attempting to traverse the Strait of Hormuz have also resulted in the deaths of at least 10 seafarers since the start of the war. The IMO did not respond to Al Jazeera’s emailed request for comment.
Stephen Cotton, the general secretary of the ITF, told Al Jazeera that it is crucial to remember that the seafarers caught up on either side of the conflict are civilians. “The point is, these are seafarers. You can say they are under an Iranian flag, and there are sanctions, but not everybody agrees with the sanctions,” he stated.
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