Stalemate for 7th day over detainment of Indian ship by Iran

NEW DELHI: Deadlock over detainment of an Indian oil tanker by Iran today entered its seventh day as both countries failed to resolve the issue despite hectic parleys.


"There is no development so far. The ship is still there in the custody of the Iranian authorities at Bandar Abbas port," a top Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) official told PTI.

MT Desh Shanti, the tanker belonging to the country's largest ocean liner SCI, was detained by Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on August 12 in Persian Gulf and taken to Bandar Abbas port while carrying crude from Basrah in Iraq.

The official said there was not any kind of pollution from the comparatively new vessel with a capacity to carry 140,000 tonnes of crude.

Meanwhile, India through its mission in Tehran, is engaged in hectic negotiations for release of the tanker.

"Indian Embassy in Tehran is pro-actively engaged in talks with Iran officials for the release of the ship. There has been no pollution by the ship and we expect some positive development," another SCI official said.

The development comes at a time when India, the world's fourth-largest oil importer, has significantly reduced its import of crude oil from Iran following severe financial sanctions from the western countries against the Islamic republic.

The Iranian embassy here in a statement on Friday had said that the detention was "purely a technical and non-political issue".