After gaining consular access to the Indian crew members trapped on board the oil tanker seized by Britain off the Gibraltar Strait, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has done the same for the 18 members of the Britain-bound vessel seized by Iran in the Gulf of Hormuz.
"Received an update on ‘Stena Impero’. Our Embassy availed consular access today evening. All 18 Indian crew members on board are safe and doing fine. Will continue to push for their early release," tweeted V. Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs. Earlier, the MoS had tweeted that the ship was stationed at the port of Bandar Shahid Bahonar near Bandar Abbas.
In the morning, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar confirmed that the 24 Indians on board the vessel seized by Britain were safe and that they had secured assurance that their release would be soon, with the High Commission of India in London to facilitate the travel arrangements for the crew.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp had seized the Stena Impero on July 19 in retaliation to the seizure of the VLCC Grace I by Gibraltar authorities by British Royal Marines. Britain claims the Grace I supertanker was transporting oil to Syria in defiance of EU sanctions.
In addition, Iran is also believed to have seized the Panama-owned (but now registered) MT Riah, which also has Indians aboard. The MEA have begun proceedings to get the sailors back, with nine out of 12 who were detained released by Iran.
The detainments come amidst heightened tensions between Iran and NATO. Just days before the ship was seized, Iran announced that it had exceeded the uranium enrichment and stockpile limits agreed upon in the now-dismantled US-Iran nuclear deal.
Panamanian authorities have started deregistering and withdrawing its flags from some of its ships, including the MT Riaz and VLCC Grace I, on the grounds that they had violated international agreements. Under the ‘flags of convenience’ system, ships may sail under the flag of another country than that of its owner, allowing them to subvert regulations and hiring limitations.