MSC ARIES
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Indian woman released from hijacked container ship
The Cadet Ann Tessa Joseph, a resident of Thrissur, Kerala, who was a crew member of the 'MSC Aries', seized by Iran on April 13, has been released and landed at the Cochin Airport on April 18. The mssion of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in Tehran was in contact with 16 other Indian crew members still on board the vessel, who were in good health and in contact with their families in India. The Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar recently spoke to his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, to request the release of the Indian crew members.
Crew on hijacked ship safe and treated reasonably
The 25 crew members of the 'MSC Aries' were safe, the shipping company MSC said on April 17, adding that discussions with Iranian authorities were in progress to secure their earliest release. They were also working with the Iranian authorities to have the cargo discharged. The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), the leading seafarers' union, said on April 17 that their priority was the welfare and safety of the seafarers onboard and has been in touch with family of the crew, who have reported that they were safe and being treated reasonably. The ITF continued to call on the Iranian authorities to urgently release the crew and the vessel.
British Defense Secretary calls on release of seized container ship
After Britain's Merchant Shipping Authority UKMTO announced that the 'MSC Aries' was seized near the Strait of Hormuz between the United Arab Emirates and Iran, about 50 nautical miles northeast of the port city of Fujairah, the British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has called on Iran to release the detained ship. He called the seizure unacceptable and a blatant violation of international law, and called for the immediate and unconditional release of the ship and crew. The Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari threatened consequences if Iran decided to escalate further. Expert Hasan Alhasan from the International Institute for Strategic Studies speculated that the seizure could be in retaliation for the attack on the consulate in Damascus in order to save face without causing a major escalation.
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