India, May 2 -- When they set sail from Jebel Ali in Dubai to Khorramshahr in Iran on February 28, they were full of hope. For three Indian seafarers on cargo carrier MV Ilda, the voyage across the Strait of Hormuz signalled the start of a career that promised economic stability and a better life for their families back in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

However, midway through the voyage, Anant Chauhan, 21, Ravi Suresh, 20, and Chiranjeevi Tithi, 28, noticed unusual activity in the sky. "We spotted missiles and could not understand what was happening," said Tithi. With horror, they listened as one of their Iranian crew members told them Iran's supreme leader had been assassinated and war had broken out. Now they braced for the worst.

Along ...