How a Bangladeshi mariner survived 115 days stranded in the US-Iran War

DHAKA — For 115 days, captain Mohammad Shafiqul Islam was stranded on the high seas of the Gulf, watching missiles light up the night sky and rationing food and water for his crew.

“I tried to stay calm because I was responsible for 31 lives, a ship worth US$40 million (RM163 million), and cargo valued at US$8.2 million,” the 51-year-old Bangladeshi mariner told AFP, back home after the ordeal.

Islam was the captain of the Banglar Joyjatra, a bulk carrier that had arrived in the Gulf a month before the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February.

The ensuing war saw the economically vital Strait of Hormuz paralysed and commercial shipping in the Gulf repeatedly targeted in Iranian attacks.

The Joyjatra, chartered by a Singapore-based company, was marooned for nearly four months.

“We loaded 39,000 tonnes of steel coils at (Qatar’s) Mesaieed Port and reached the outer port limits of Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates on February 26,” Islam told AFP by telephone from his home in Bangladesh’s eastern city of Cumilla.

“Something was in the air. There was an ominous atmosphere.”

“In the early hours of February 28, we saw a missile strike an oil storage facility just 200 metres away,” he said. “The facility burst into flames.”

The sailors anxiously watched as tugboats battled the blaze that had engulfed storage tanks.

Bangladesh’s ambassador to the UAE urged Islam to evacuate, but the captain chose to stay aboard, hoping the situation would stabilise.

Instead, more missile attacks followed.

Over the following days, explosions rang in the air while the ship’s navigation system stopped working.

“After many years, I found myself navigating manually again, searching for lighthouses to make sure we stayed on course,” Islam said.