Anshu last spoke to her husband on the night of February 28. Their five-year-old son was starting at a new school the next morning, and Captain Ashish Kumar had asked her to call him after the admission – let him know how it went.

She called. He didn’t pick up. She messaged. It was delivered, but there was no reply. By that evening, his phone was switched off.

Captain Ashish Kumar, 37, from Bettiah in Bihar, is now among three Indians feared dead after drone attacks on merchant vessels off the Oman coast – the latest casualties in a conflict that has turned one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes into a war zone.

At least 36 Indian-flagged ships, including several belonging to the government-run Shipping Corporation of India, are stranded near the Persian Gulf, suggest reports. Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz – a narrow chokepoint handling a fifth of the world’s crude supply – following American and Israeli strikes, leaving hundreds of Indian merchant navy sailors trapped in waters that grow more dangerous each day.

The Indian National Shipowners’ Association has requested government intervention. The National Union of Seafarers of India has called on shipping companies and global maritime authorities to reroute vessels away from conflict. Shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal had chaired a meeting on Tuesday to assess the situation. The Directorate General of Shipping issued a press brief detailing measures for vessels operating in the region.

Those feared dead include Ashish Kumar; a crew member named Dalip, also aboard MV Skylight when it was struck by a drone on March 1; and 25-year-old Dixit Solanki after an explosive-laden drone boat hit an oil tanker off Muscat.

MV Skylight was anchored five nautical miles from an Oman port........

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