Indian Sailors Continue to Remain Hostage of Iran-West Tensions

Over 40 Indians were on board the two ships that have become pawns in geopolitical tensions. While 18 Indians were working on the UK’s Stena Impero, 24 were stationed on Iran’s Grace-1.

New Delhi: Even as India is waiting for the release of its sailors in the ongoing tensions between Iran and the West, allegations have been raised about use of disproportionate force in the capture of the Iranian tanker by its Indian captain, while the Swedish owner of the British-flagged tanker has expressed “growing concern” about their detained crew.

On July 4, British Royal Marines seized a super tanker Grace-1 near Gibraltar on suspicion of carrying Iranian crude to Syrian refinery in violation of EU sanctions. Two weeks later, Iran seized a British-operated oil tanker, Stena Impero, near the strategic straits of Hormuz for allegedly hitting a fishing boat.

The Gibraltar authorities had called in the Royal Marines to seize the ship, which was successfully done with British sailors rappelling down from a helicopter.

Also read: Iran Says It Seized British Tanker, Denies US Brought Down Drone

For the first time since the seizure, BBC spoke to the Indian captain of the ship, who claimed the Royal Marines used “brute force”.

“They came up to the bridge. I asked them… I am the captain, tell me what do you want? They didn’t just listen to me…” said the unnamed Indian national in an audio clip released on Tuesday.

He said that the Royal Marines just pointed guns at him and crew and ordered them to kneel. “They didn’t care whether I was master… there was no regulations… we had 28 unarmed crew. I was in a state of shock, everybody was in a state of shock”.

The Indian captain went on to say that there had been no need to use the military to detain the ship. “You suspected the vessel was carrying oil, why do u have to use brute force?  All you need to do if you arrest a ship, the harbour master needs to come on board saying that captain, give me your certificate file. You are under arrest. I don’t understand why so much force was used”.

Here in India, there was no official response to the revelations by BBC, with sources stating that the earlier position indicated in the Indian statement remains.

As per the latest information released by India, a team from the Indian high commission in the UK had travelled to Gibraltar had met with the sailors on July 24. Four of them had been arrested, but released on bail. Till now, there is no other information about their release.

The UK high commissioner to India, Dominic Asquith, defended the actions of the Royal Marines as a “completely legitimate act” which was in accordance with EU regulations.

“I am intrigued to have read… that the Indian captain of that vessel claimed to be unaware of EU sanctions against Syria,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

He asserted that there was no possibility of a swap with the Iranians. “There is no swap going on on. these are two different incidents. The current foreign secretary made it clear that it is not a game of swapping vessels,” said Asquith.

The British envoy pointed out that the UK had made it clear to the Iranian authorities, including foreign minister Javed Zarif, that they were willing to release Grace-1 if suitable guarantees about the sale of the oil were given. “There was no response,” he noted. A week later, Iran captured Steno Impero.

He added that the release of the Indian crew aboard Grace-1 was not in the hands of UK. “The Gibraltar judicial authorities have their own process, which we all have to respect… Just remember that on board that vessel was two billion barrels of oil which we strongly believe was destined to go to EU sanctioned authority”.

UK administers foreign affairs and defence policy of the self-governing territory of Gibraltar in Iberian peninsula, but is sensitive to the city state being described as a “British colony”.

The British high commissioner stressed that the capture of Grace-1 and Stena Impero should not be compared on a similar plane. “The two are completely different incident. One entirely conducted according to international law, other one I have to say entirely contrary to international law. Not only that, one that affected the free passage of vessels, carrying product that is very important to India, affecting Indian citizens,” he said.

Grace-1 had been earlier flying a Panamian flag, but it was struck off the register in May as part of growing restrictions on Iranian shipping by United States.

Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar is likely to discuss the issue of the release of the crew of Grace-1 with his new British counterpart, foreign secretary Dominic Raab, in Bangkok on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Stena Impero remains impounded at Iran’s Bandar Shahid Bahonar.

The owners, Stena Bulk and Northern Marine Management, released a statement on Tuesday (July 30) that they had “growing concern for the welfare of the crew who are confined to the vessel”.

“With little progress being made since the vessel was seized on 19th July, we urge governments involved to find a swift resolution so our 23 valued seafarers can return to their families and move on from this ordeal,” stated Erik Hanell, president and chief executive, Stena Bulk.

Also read: Two Instances of Crew Abandonment Highlight Risks for Indian Sailors

He said that there was no evidence of a collision involving the Stena Impero and all on-board navigational equipment, including transponders, were fully functioning, in compliance with maritime regulations.

Earlier, Indian foreign Vijay Gokhale had met with the Iranian ambassador to request for their early release. Officials from the Indian embassy met the crew members on July 25 and reported that they were “doing fine”.

In total, over 40 Indians were on board the two ships that have become pawns in geopolitical tensions. While 18 Indians were working on Stena Impero, 24 were stationed on Iran’s Grace-1.

This was a reflection in the sharp rise of over 35% in number of Indian seafarers worldwide within one year. In 2017, there were 1.5 lakh Indian sailors registered with Indian government, which jumped to 2.1 lakh in 2018. Out of them, over 1.8 lakh were working on vessels with foreign flags.