Three Iraqi sailors go missing in Gulf waters on Iran-UAE route

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Three Iraqi sailors have gone missing near the maritime border between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the head of an Iraqi mariners advocacy group told Rudaw on Friday, as their families say the sailors were aboard one of two Bolivian-flagged vessels earlier reported missing in the Gulf. The incident comes amid ongoing regional maritime tensions between the US and Iran as a comprehensive resolution to the latest war stalls. 

“The three Iraqi sailors are from [Iraq’s southernmost] Basra province; they went missing between May 10 and 11,” said Khalid al-Thaalibi, head of the Iraqi Mariners Foundation, further identifying them as Captains Dhiaa Abd Najihi, Dhiaa Abd al-Khaliq, and Haidar Rahman Ali. 

According to Thaalibi, the three men “were working aboard a small transport vessel which went missing shortly after it departed from Kish Island in Iranian territorial waters and was headed toward ports in the United Arab Emirates.”

Kish Island is administratively part of Hormozgan Province. It lies roughly 19 kilometers south of mainland Iran and about 200 kilometers north of the Emirate of Dubai.

Thaalibi said “contact with the vessel was lost after the crew issued a distress call,” adding that “it remains unknown whether the ship was attacked or sank.” The three Iraqi sailors “were working alongside six foreign sailors aboard two ships, all of whom remain missing,” he further noted.

Earlier on Friday, the General Company for Ports of Iraq (GCPI) said in a statement that the two missing Bolivian-flagged vessels, Bridge 1 and Bridge 2, “did not enter Iraqi waters” and that the relevant maritime departments “have not received any communication or distress calls from the crews of the two ships.”

“No information is currently available regarding their present location,” it said, adding that “follow-up operations are ongoing through satellite-based electronic tracking systems and in coordination with search and rescue authorities in countries across the region,” and that “any information or developments will be announced immediately upon receipt.”

The two commercial merchant vessels had vanished within the Gulf basin overnight leading into Friday, following a sudden and complete communications blackout. Both ships operate under a Bolivian “flag of convenience,” a system in which a shipowner registers a vessel in a foreign country rather than its country of origin.

Meanwhile, the Bani Assad tribe in Iraq, one of the largest and most influential, issued a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, urging him to intensify efforts to determine the fate of their kin.

In a video message released on Tuesday, the tribe’s spokesperson said the sailors were aboard the Bridge 1 vessel, noting that “contact with the ship was lost on May 5,” and urging Zaidi to “contact the relevant authorities” in Iraq and the region to secure the return of their loved ones.

“Our kin were caught in the crosshairs [of the war]. We don’t know if they were struck by an aircraft, abducted, or if they are being held in the United Arab Emirates,” another family member said, urging “quick action” to address the situation.

The US and Israel in late February launched a large-scale aerial campaign against Iran, striking thousands of targets across the country over six weeks of hostilities, before the warring sides agreed to a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire on April 8, halting fighting to allow space for talks.

While the first round of talks concluded without a final agreement on April 11, a second round has yet to take place, with a comprehensive resolution to the conflict still pending.

In parallel with the diplomatic efforts, Iran and the US have engaged in tit-for-tat maritime measures. Tehran has tightened its grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, while Washington imposed a maritime blockade on Iranian ports on April 13.