Release negotiations for 18 Filipino seafarers on seized tanker ongoing

The Philippine government on Saturday that there’s an ongoing negotiation for the release of 18 Filipino seafarers on board the seized oil tanker by the Iranian Navy in the Gulf of Oman this week, noting that “they’re in good condition.”

Migrant Workers Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne Caunan said the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Migrant Workers are closely coordinating with the Iranian government to seek updates on the condition of apprehended Filipino seafarers. 

“As of now, there’s a good update, they are in good condition both the DFA and the DMW are closely monitoring their situation,”  Caunan said at a news forum in Quezon City. 

In a separate television interview, the DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo Jose de Vega said the Iranian Embassy in Manila has vowed it will extend assistance to the Philippines’ request for the release of the 18 Filipinos. 

“We’re in touch with the Iranian government. The Iranian ambassador has promised assistance, so there’s the confirmation that it (the ship) was captured. So, we’re just ascertaining the condition of our 18 seafarers,”  de Vega said in an interview over the ABS-CBN News channel. 

The DFA, he added, is still waiting for an official report from the Iran embassy. 

“We can say that, so far, there is no indication that they are being harmed or mistreated…The Iranian ambassador assured that they will work on it so that they will be released as soon as possible,” said de Vega. 

The Iran Navy seized the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker ST Nikolas in the Gulf of Oman while in transit between the Iraqi port of Basra and Turkey on Thursday.

The oil tanker, formerly named Suez Rajan, had been the subject of attention in 2023 when the United States, a sanction enforcement operation, confiscated more than 980,000 barrels of Iranian crude oil it was carrying. 

Tasnim News Agency, a semi-official news agency in Iran, quoted the statement from the Iranian Navy in its report saying the seizure was in retaliation for the US confiscation.

“The tanker, renamed ST Nicholas, was seized on Thursday, with a judicial order and in retaliation for the theft of Iran’s oil by the US,” it said.