The ship, MT Valiant Roar, operated by Dubai-based Prime Tankers LLC, was seized on 8 December while it was in international waters.
Some of the crew members were taken to a jail in Iran’s Bandar Abbas port city, while the others were detained on the vessel.
In January, their families approached a court in India, seeking government intervention, following which India’s foreign ministry said it had secured consular access to them.
Eight men returned to India on 10 February, but the others, including five Indians in jail, received their release order only on 27 February.
A day later, the US and Israel began military strikes on Iran, prompting it to retaliate. Flights and border crossings across the region were disrupted.
“The joy of the release order did not last even a few hours,” Vijay Kumar, the ship’s captain, said as he recalled the ordeal.
Though Iranian authorities returned their passports, the security situation forced the sailors to stay put on the ship in Bandar Abbas.
Kumar said the ship was docked close to an Iranian naval facility, placing them uncomfortably close to potential targets.
“We could only watch helplessly as missiles fell around us through the night,” he said.
He added that Iranian authorities had removed key navigation and safety equipment from the ship when they seized it, making it impossible to move to a safer location. BBC News Hindi has contacted Iran’s embassy in Delhi for a comment.
On 3 March, the Indian embassy in Tehran evacuated the crew – Kumar said this included the Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi men – from the ship and arranged rooms for them in a hotel in the city.
The BBC has contacted the high commissions of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Delhi for comment.
