The families of seafarers onboard the sunken Sanchi have claimed some are still alive and were taken hostage after the tanker suffered a collision and sank, according to a US federal lawsuit.

If they are dead, we need to know they are dead. If they are alive, we should be able to get them

Ali Herischi

Their lawyer has argued that instead of perishing alongside the tanker nearly two years ago, at least 10 of the 32 crew members escaped and have been trying to reach out in hundreds of mysterious phone calls, many of which abruptly dropped.