Iran is releasing the 17 crew members still on board the Empire Navigation suezmax seized in January.
The Greek manager said at the weekend that it was happy to report that 11 Filipino seafarers on board the 159,100-dwt St Nikolas (built 2011) had been freed and were due to return to Manila, starting on Sunday.
The remaining six crew members “are expected to also return as soon as their replacements arrive”.
“We express our sincere gratitude to our crew for their commendable behaviour and resilience during this trying period, our manning agent in Manila and the [Philippines’] Department of Migrant Workers for their excellent cooperation,” Empire said.
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed the news. Undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega said the contracts of the 11 Filipinos had officially expired and the manning agency had already replaced them with foreign crew members.
Nine of the seafarers were due to arrive home on Sunday, and two more would fly back on 13 March, he added.
The vessel was seized on 11 January with 18 Filipinos and one Greek cadet officer on board.
The Greek, who was the youngest crew member, was released in January and a Filipino seafarer was freed in February.
The tanker is believed to have been held in retaliation for Empire’s cooperation with US action last year to seize Iranian oil the ship was carrying when it was named Suez Rajan.
After being forced by US authorities to unload its Iranian cargo in Texas — partly on behalf of victims of the 11 September 2001 terror attacks in New York, for which Iran denies any responsibility — the ship returned to the Middle East under its new name, St Nikolas.
When it arrived there off Oman, Islamic Revolutionary Guards forces hijacked the ship.
Suezmax cargo being confiscated
Last week, Iranian authorities moved formally to confiscate a US-owned cargo of crude on a suezmax they hijacked nearly a year ago and have been detaining since.
The ruling, related to the 159,100-dwt Advantage Sweet (built 2012), was issued by the Tehran court on international relations, local media said.
The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker was intercepted on 27 April 2023 by Iranian forces in the Gulf of Oman.
It was carrying Kuwaiti crude for Chevron to Houston, Texas.
This seizure was also understood to be retaliation for the Suez Rajan oil confiscation.
