The United Nations must respond to Iran’s seizure of a container ship by organising stronger military missions to protect seafarers, a coalition of major shipping groups said on Friday.
The groups said the hijacking of the 15,000-teu MSC Aries (built 2020) on 13 April in the Strait of Hormuz highlighted the “intolerable situation where shipping has become a target” despite its central role in the global supply chain.
In a letter to UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, the International Chamber of Shipping complained that the seizure of ships and the detention of crews was met with a muted global response compared with the hijacking of aircraft.
“The world would be outraged if four airliners were seized and held hostage with innocent souls onboard,” said the letter signed by 16 groups including the ICS and the International Transport Workers’ Federation.
“Regrettably, there does not seem to be the same response or concern for the four commercial vessels and their crews being held hostage.”
Satellite images emerged this week showing the MSC Aries off the coast of Iran close to three other seized ships. Advantage Tankers’ 159,100-dwt suezmax Advantage Sweet (built 2012), the Altomare-owned 309,000-dwt VLCC Niovi (built 2005) and Empire Navigation’s 158,600-dwt suezmax St Nikolas (built 2011) were taken last year.
The groups said there was a moral duty to protect seafarers. They noted that the industry had stepped up and delivered during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Given the continually evolving and severe threat profile within the area, we call on you for enhanced coordinated military presence, missions and patrols in the region, to protect our seafarers against any further possible aggression,” the letter said.
On Thursday, the UK sanctioned the Iranian navy force that seized the MSC Aries, ordering British banks to freeze any assets linked to the group.
Israel called for a dossier to be sent to the UN Security Council detailing Iranian-backed attacks and seizures of commercial shipping.
The hijacking of the MSC Aries and detention of its 25-strong crew represented a “dangerous escalation in maritime safety”, said Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s ambassador to the UK.
She said the seizure of the ship is the latest in a “series of illegal and unjustified attacks” by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz that highlight the dangers to seafarers.
“These Iranian attacks destabilise one of the most important trading routes, where 20% of the world’s daily consumption of oil pass through,” she wrote in a circular to IMO members.
Hotovely highlighted the beginning of Iranian-backed attacks with a strike on the 50,000-dwt product tanker Mercer Street (built 2013) off the coast of Oman by drones launched from Iran in July 2021.
The attack killed a British security guard and the Romanian captain. The tanker was operated by London-based Zodiac Maritime and controlled by Israeli owner Eyal Ofer. The MSC Aries was also owned by an affiliate of Zodiac.
Regional threat
“Since [the Mercer Street raid] … Iran has conducted or aided a series of seizures and attacks on vessels and acted to destabilise the region,” Hotovely wrote.
She also highlighted Tehran’s backing of the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have launched dozens of missiles and drones at commercial ships in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Israel called on the IMO to submit a report to the UN Security Council detailing Iran’s “ongoing activities in undermining maritime security”.
IMO secretary general Arsenio Dominguez last month described the Houthi strikes as “categorically unacceptable” and called for an end to all strikes against shipping.
Read more
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