Iran has announced its intention to release the 17 crew members who were on board a ship seized in January. This release is contingent on the condition that the Philippine Government sends replacement crew members for those being released.
The seized vessel, is a 159,000-dwt ship named “ST. NIKOLAS”. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in the Philippines announced an agreement with Iran for the release of the crewmembers from the seized vessel, “ST. NIKOLAS.” The condition is that the Philippine Government provides replacement crewmembers. Iran asserts that the crew is not being held hostage, emphasizing that they were adhering to their contracts when the vessel was legally seized based on a court order. The DFA’s demand for the release after the expiration of their contracts was accepted by Iran.
The ship, seized on January 11, 2024, had 18 Filipinos and one Greek crewmember. The Greek crewmember, the youngest on board, was released in January, followed by the release of a Filipino seafarer in February.
To remind, in February, one of the eighteen Filipino crew members aboard the oil tanker ST Nikolas, which was seized by Iranian authorities in January, released.
After unloading the Iranian cargo in Texas, the ship returned to the Middle East with the new name “St. Nikolas.” However, off the coast of Oman, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard forces hijacked the ship, confiscated the cargo, and seized the vessel.
