An Iran-flag aframax tanker released from detention in Greece last month is now moving into position to take its seized cargo back.
If it succeeds, the way will be open to resolve an acrimonious stand-off between Iran and Greece in which about 70 seafarers have been caught up in tit-for-tat tanker seizures over the past three months.
According to vessel trackers and sources familiar with the issue, the 115,400-dwt Lana (built 2003) was towed last weekend from its former arrest location at Karystos in the Aegean, to the Piraeus anchorage.
This has brought the Russian-linked ship near the 70,400-dwt Ice Energy (built 2006), which removed about 68,000 tonnes of oil from the Lana in May.
A Greek lawyer representing the Iranian interests backing the Lana appeared before Piraeus coastguards on Monday to formally request that the ship pull alongside the Ice Energy to take its cargo back in a ship-to-ship transfer.
To back up his claim, the lawyer cited a Greek court decision from June, which overturned an arrest and cargo seizure order issued by Greek authorities at the behest of the US in April.
The latest development is in line with previous reporting by TradeWinds on 14 June, which said the Lana would probably be towed towards the Ice Energy, which is managed by Greece’s Dynacom Tankers Management.
However, it is still uncertain if the Lana will be able to reclaim its cargo immediately.
The US-backed interests that sought its arrest in April on the basis of sanctions against Russia and Iran are making a last-ditch legal effort to turn the tables in the case.
Any delay will further frustrate the 50 or so seafarers on board two Greece-flag tankers that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boarded and seized in the Middle East Gulf in late May in reprisal for the Lana seizure.
The seafarers, mostly Filipinos and Greeks, have been held in Iran since 28 May on board Delta Tankers’ 157,400-dwt Delta Poseidon (built 2011) and Polembros Shipping’s 150,000-dwt Prudent Warrior (built 2017).
“We hope that recent developments [offer a] pathway to the release of our vessel and her crew,” Polembros said in a statement on its website on 2 July.
The company expressed its frustration at becoming “innocent victims caught in the midst of political confrontations”.
Before its arrest in April, the Lana was trading as Pegas under the Russian flag and with 19 Russian seafarers on board. It became immobilised in Greek waters in April due to an engine failure.
The engine is understood to have been repaired, but the ship is not allowed to sail under its own steam before a class inspection.
Its oil cargo — both the 68,000 tonnes on board the Ice Energy and the rest that remained on the Lana — belongs to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the US considers a terrorist organisation.
