Diplomatic efforts are underway to secure the release of crew members on board a container vessel seized by Iranian forces.
The Portuguese flag state of the 15,000-teu MSC Aries (built 2020) is leading attempts to free the 25 seafarers.
“Portugal is trying everything to help the crew on board MSC Aries, the ship’s owner, manager and operator,” the vessel’s flag administration manager, Euromar, said.
“The Portuguese government is in contact with the Iranian authorities, having requested clarifications and information about the seamen and the vessel.”
The home countries’ of the seafarers trapped on board the detained vessels are also working overtime to secure their release.
The information is in line with that provided by other sources following the case closely.
Past experience with tankers seized by Iran suggests that crews are typically exchanged several weeks or months following a seizure, as owners and managers dispatch replacement crews to the area.
The nationality of the seafarers held on the ship near Bandar Abbas has not been officially released yet.
According to maritime sources speaking to TradeWinds on condition of anonymity, 18 of the 25 seafarers of the MSC Aries are Indian nationals. This means that the government in Delhi is expected to play a key role in talks with Tehran going forward.
Four seafarers on the MSC Aries are from the Philippines. That country’s Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila has already said that if it establishes that any of its citizens are on board, it will spare no efforts to have them released and returned home as soon as possible.
Russia, which has closed ranks with Iran in the wake of the Ukraine war, also has one seafarer on board, with the remaining two coming from Estonia and Pakistan.
‘No response’
Airborne Iranian military forces raided the MSC Aries as it was travelling in the Strait of Hormuz off the country’s coast early on Saturday.
Iran is widely believed to have seized the vessel as part of reprisals against Israel, which included multiple missile and drone attacks against Israeli soil later on Saturday and early on Sunday.
Zodiac is ultimately owned by Israeli-born billionaire Eyal Ofer, who is based in Monaco.
In Iran’s first official statement on the seizure on Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kassani maintained that the MSC Aries “belongs to the Zionist regime”, but added that it was arrested for allegedly violating traffic rules in the Strait of Hormuz.
The state-run IRNA news agency cited Kassani as saying that it was diverted to Iran “due to the violation of the maritime laws by the ship in question and the lack of appropriate answers to the questions raised by the relevant Iranian authorities”.
Fars News Agency, another state-controlled Iranian media outlet, reported on Saturday that the MSC Aries had switched off its AIS system and “it did not answer the necessary questions”.
The MSC Aries was laden at its time of capture. A source following the case told TradeWinds there are signs of Iranian authorities preparing to unload the vessel.
