Kerala seafarer stranded in Iran for a year gets emergency travel document to return home

Indian authorities are providing assistance to an Indian seafarer from Kerala stranded in Iran for close to a year, and efforts are underway to facilitate his return home, the external affairs ministry said on Friday.

Akshay Hareesh, a 22-year-old mariner, joined the merchant vessel Plam Marine in Japan in 2025. He has been stranded in Iran since the vessel arrived at the port of Bandar Lengeh last year, and his passport and other travel documents went missing.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing that Hareesh had informed an Indian consular officer that the captain of the vessel had stated that his passport and Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC), which all seafarers hold, had been “lost”.

“Subsequently, he was disembarked from the vessel at Chahbahar,” Jaiswal said. Hareesh is receiving support from the company that employed him, which is taking care of his board and lodging in Iran.

Jaiswal noted that the well-being and safety of Indian seafarers were of high importance to the government, and that the Indian mission in Tehran and the consulate in Bandar Abbas were in touch with Hareesh, who approached Indian authorities for help on November 9.

“We got in touch with the owner of the ship and the agent, and we gave them the details of the formalities to be completed for his documentation,” he said.

Hareesh has been provided with an emergency certificate, a travel document issued to people who need to travel urgently following the loss of their passport.

“With that, he is now ready to travel back home and we are making all efforts so that he can return to India as early as possible,” Jaiswal said.