3 min readMar 21, 2026 04:17 PM IST
Ever since tensions escalated in West Asia earlier this month, Smruti Rekha Sahoo has been spending sleepless nights, tracking the news and consoling her family as she waits for one thing: safe passage for the LPG-loaded vessel on which her husband, Ashok Kumar Dixit, is the chief officer.
“My entire family is extremely worried as he is on a loaded LPG vessel and missiles are constantly being fired. It’s like they are sitting on a stock of explosives. Though they have food and water, they are running short and they are facing difficulties,” said Smruti, a school teacher from Odisha’s Cuttack.
Dixit is among hundreds of seafarers awaiting safe passage for their vessels as the West Asia crisis escalates. He had boarded the vessel, currently in the Persian Gulf, on a four-month contract and was due to return home after March 10, but the crisis broke out.
As tensions rise, Smruti has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to ensure safe passage for her husband and other crew members.
Ashok’s vessel is currently anchored at Ras Laffan in Qatar, approximately 12 nautical miles off the coast.
“My six-year-old daughter has been constantly asking about his father’s return and I have no definite answer. Whenever she watches news related to war, she just cries inconsolably,” said Smruti Rekha.
She said she manages to speak to her husband over WhatsApp but fears what could happen. “We hoped for his early return after two Indian vessels exited the Strait of Hormuz. But it has been around 6-7 days since then, and a number of Indian vessels, including the one my husband boarded, are still stranded in the Persian Gulf. We are in a panic, and have no clear information about the situation there,” she said.
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Narrating the ordeal as described by her husband, she said the crew are living in highly unhygienic conditions, having to store garbage in freezers as they cannot dump it into the sea. “My husband said he continuously sees missiles being diffused near his vessel. We can’t even imagine the difficulty under which my husband and others are living at present. When my husband is in a war zone, I don’t think I need to tell the mental state of our family members,” she said, adding that the shipping company is making efforts to ensure safe passage.
