Hope for the crew of the stated "Stena Impero": Iran confirmed a release of 7 of the 23 crew members for humanitarian reasons. "The ship has violated local regulations, but we have no problems with the captain and the crew," said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi according to the news agency Isna.
The seven released crew members from India, Russia and Latvia were selected by the captain of the Stena Impero tanker, according to Iranian sources. "They are free and can return to their homeland," the spokesman said. To a release of the tanker itself Mousavi said that currently a lawsuit in the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas run. The court will then decide on the future of the tanker.
Relatives extremely concerned about the fate of the crew members
The Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Riga confirmed that a Latvian crew member was released. According to earlier data from the Latvian Maritime Authority, the man born in 1978 is the master captain of the ship's captain. At the same time, Latvia called on Iran to release the ship and the rest of its crew. Finally, relatives had expressed extreme concern about the fate of the crew members. The Reedereichef had demanded the release of the crew.
The "Stena Impero" had been jailed in July by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz. The strait lies between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Previously, the Iranian supertanker "Grace 1" had been stopped because of suspected illegal oil supplies for Syria.
According to observers, following the release of the Iranian tanker last month, a release of the British ship is also conceivable. Tehran is waiting for a safe return of the renamed "Adrian Darya-1" supertanker to Iran, and then release the British ship.