‘Like living in hell’: The Iran war leaves Indian seafarers dead and trapped at sea

‘Like living in hell’: The Iran war leaves Indian seafarers dead and trapped at sea Bhargavi Suresh, 36, from Visakhapatnam in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, spends hours sitting before a framed photograph of her husband, Patnala Suresh. She wipes the glass clean, kisses the picture, hugs it tightly and places it back on the table, only to reach for it again moments later. Looking at the photograph, she breaks down in tears. "Look at my husband. Isn't he handsome? Isn't he young?" she cries. "Come back. How can I live without you? How will I raise our children alone? They need you. I need you." Overwhelmed by grief, Bhargavi nearly faints before relatives help her recover. Moments later, she is clutching the photograph once again. Soon, her two sons, aged 13 and 10, sit beside her. Together, they stare silently at the image of their father, their “superhero”. For 14 years, Patnala Suresh served in the merchant navy. Most recently, he was working as chief engineer aboard the commercial oil tanker MT Settebello. To his sons, he was a man who braved storms and rough seas to keep global trade moving. "He was my children's superhero," Bhargavi says softly. "Everything they admired, they saw in him." Suresh was among three Indian crew members killed when the US military struck the MT Settebello in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz on 10 June. American authorities later said the tanker had failed to comply with repeated instructions issued by US forces. Read more: ‘Like living in hell’: The Iran war leaves Indian seafarers dead and trapped at sea