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The morning call from the agent in Kuwait came earlier than usual. "I’m looking out of my window. I see a lot of soldiers. Looks like some army exhibition. Then the line was cut.” Based in Bombay Capt Viraf Kekobad recalled that fateful morning of August 2, 1990 when M.V. (motor vessel) Safeer jointly owned by him, the late Capt Ibrahim Modak and another had berthed in Kuwait’s Shuwaikh Port.  Kekobad switched on the television to learn that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had just invaded his oil rich Gulf neighbor. "So began 37 days of hell,” said Kekobad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kekobad could not reach the agent Frank Rozario in Kuwait and phoned Modak in Dubai who was also watching the drama unfold on television. "We were in uncharted waters,” Kekobad reminisced when talking to Parsiana on August 28, 2018. "We never before had a ship in a war zone, that too with no communications.” They had no idea if the 10,000 tonne cargo vessel with a consignment of rice from Kandla port in Gujarat was safe, bombed, or if there were any casualties among the 40 or so Indian officers and crew members. He called the Harbor Master’s office but there was "no response.”
The next afternoon "Iraqi forces boarded the vessel and all officers and crew were taken off the ship and held at gunpoint and interrogated. At the same time a lot of provisions and stores were removed by the Iraqi forces and the Radio Room was sealed. The officers and crew were brought back on the ship and the vessel was put under Iraqi army detention,” Kekobad narrated the unfolding events in an email.
"We wanted consular access,” the anxious seaman recalled. Through a Dr M. A. Patankar who had "good connections with the Gulf” they were able to briefly meet the Iraqi military attaché in Bombay. He asked what they wanted. A visit, release of the vessel, they said. Kekobad and Modak’s son Hanif then coordinated their efforts with the shipping ministry officials, and the ministry of external affairs from Bombay and Delhi while Ibrahim liaised from Dubai. Fortunately Iraq had good relations with India and when the foreign minister A. K. Gujral visited Hussein on August 21, 1990 he "was able to secure the release of all Indian expatriates trapped in Kuwait and Iraq. The President of Iraq gave a directive that all Indian nationals should be allowed to leave Kuwait and Iraq by land, sea or air without any impediments,” stated Kekobad.
But the Indian government faced a humanitarian crisis. Around 1,80,000 Indians were stranded in Kuwait with no visible means of  leaving the country save an arduous overland journey to Jordan and then a flight back to India. "Indians constitute the third largest component of the Kuwaiti population behind six-and-a-half-lakh locals and three lakh Palestinians,” notes an article in the Sunday Mail India (August 19, 1990). No passenger ships were in the vicinity, but "Safeer was at their doorstep,” recalled Kekobad. The cargo had been offloaded and acquisitioned by the Iraqi army. But there were not sufficient life jackets and liferafts on board in the event of the ship striking a mine or being accidentally bombed. His wife Aban recalled how her husband was "very stressed” and felt responsible for the well-being of the 26-member crew led by Capt Z. A. K. Juvale. The 748 individuals abroad the vessel had 722 evacuees, 265 of whom were women and children.
As the ship owned by their company Oyster Marine Management Inc was registered in Panama, Viraf and Ibrahim had to approach the Panamanian Flag State authorities and obtain their permission to ferry passengers on the cargo vessel. They also "had to approach the Protection and Indemnity Club (P&I) as well as the H&M Insurance Agency to check legalities and validity of their insurance coverage” as the vessel was insured for cargo and not passengers. As the crew were Indian, the Indian government had become involved.
Once the safety gear was obtained, 722 Indians were selected for evacuation on the ship. Preference was given to pregnant women (one woman gave birth on disembarking), women and children, the elderly, the infirm and some students "who had to go,” said Viraf. They could only carry one set of clothes. Many were accommodated in the ship’s four windowless cargo holds where temperatures touched 45°C as well as on the main decks.
Oil drums were cut and welded to make toilets, and gunny bags were used to create cubicles, the mid-day (February 6, 2016) cited the ship’s second-in-command Nazir Mulla. Passengers were asked to carry food for two to three days as Safeer didn’t have much to offer, the daily quoted crew member Fareeque Dilawar Kapdi. "Despite that he cooked khichdi for those who didn’t have food with them,” he added. The 536 nautical miles (617 miles) journey from Kuwait to Dubai lasted 48 hours (September 5 to 7). After the sea journey the passengers were transported by bus to Amman airport and flown to India.
A letter dated July 24, 1991 from K. P. Fabian, then joint secretary (Gulf), ministry of external affairs to Viraf notes, "This is to confirm that government of India did not pay your company any amount towards evacuation of the Indian nationals who were carried aboard M. V. Safeer. We are indeed grateful to you for having carried safely over 700 Indians nationals from Kuwait under Iraqi occupation to Dubai.”
The passengers’ ordeal was over, but for the ship owners, their agony increased. As the cargo had not been delivered to the named consignee, they were held liable for the financial damages. The evacuation "was the beginning of the end for the company’s maritime venture. At port after port where the ship docked, it was detained. Eventually in 1991 "we were forced to sell the ship,” rued Viraf, adding, "There was no savior for the saviors... Whatever we had earned, we lost. Thank God for our reserves.” They took two years to regroup.
But the Safeer saga did not end with the sale of the ship. In January 2016 the Bollywood movie Airlift was released in which a shipmaster was shown "asking for money to carry passengers from war-torn Kuwait.” As the Safeer "was the only ship that was allowed to sail out of Kuwait during the Iraqi occupation in 1990,” Viraf was asked "specific questions whether any money had changed hands from the evacuees to the ship’s crew.”
"We had to set the record straight hence I gave my reply on a video link, clarifying that neither the master nor any crew members asked for, or took any money from the evacuees.”
"In order to set the record straight, a program was held on March 12, 2016 called "The Kuwait Evacuation of 1990 and the contemporary narrative” at India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi… On the same day we were bestowed with the humanitarian award by Sailor Today which is a prestigious publication for the merchant navy. This recognition came after 25 years and we felt very proud about our mission.”
Viraf and his partners continued in shipping and owning vessels till 2001. He shifted base to New Zealand in 1994 and then to Australia in 1999. He then took to consultancy and eventually property development and management before semi retiring. His twin sons, Mahiyar and Mehernosh are in the hospitality and tourism business.
But the IIC program "spurred us on with the idea of making a documentary by the name of Mission Safeer…37 Days to Freedom wherein interviews of ships officers and diplomats have been shown.” A screening of the documentary was held this August 11 at IIC at which the chief guest of honor was vice admiral Harinder Singh (retd), former commander-in-chief, southern naval command. The vice admiral  termed the operation "an extraordinary event,” and cited the role the merchant navy played in serving the nation. He spoke about "the generosity” of the ship owners who carried out the rescue without any costs to the government. R. P. Singh, the first secretary in Kuwait at the time of the invasion, spoke of the "wonderful job” the ship owners and crew performed and termed the movie Airlift "hopeless.” The movie showed the government in a negative light as being indifferent to the needs of the Indians in Kuwait and deserting their embassy all of which was untrue. Fabian described the evacuation as "an act of heroism and humanism.”
S. M. Mathur, the first Indian government official to board the ship after the invasion described the voyage as "historic... a blessing for those people in distress.” Hanif told the gathering that he and Viraf were determined to portray the true story of the evacuation after seeing Airlift. He "could not tolerate” the fabrication and lies in the movie.
"No cargo ship in recent history has ever carried so many refugees from a war zone,” states Viraf. "It gave us all a great sense of pride to have helped evacuate 722 Indians and reunite them with their families… free of cost… the voyage has no parallel.”