Apprehended crews in Iran face ‘extended detention’

The crew of two ships detained by Iran in the past 10 days must brace for an extended time away from loved ones if recent similar ship seizures by Tehran are anything to go by.

The Advantage Sweet suezmax and the Niovi VLCC were both apprehended by Iranian military forces in recent days while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, in apparent retaliation for the US seizing the Suez Rajan, the latest in a long-running tit-for-tat between two enemies where international shipping and innocent seafarers become the victims.

Satellite imagery released over the weekend by Planet Labs shows the two ships near each other in the shallow anchorage of Bandar Abbas, Iran’s top port with TankerTrackers.com, a leading source on the movement of illicit seaborne oil, warning via social media: “We interpret that as an extended detention.”

Previous hijackings by Iran, such as the high profile case of the Stena Impero in 2019, have seen ships detained for more than two months.

Given the mix of nationalities involved in this latest case, with Chinese ownership of one vessel, and extensive Indian crews onboard both vessels, these two allies of Iran are expected to exert greater pressure for a swift release of the ships involved.