First images emerge of crew from oil tanker seized by Iran
The first images of the crew of the British-flagged oil tanker seized by Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz were released on Monday, showing them gathered around a table and preparing a meal.
The 23-member crew of the Stena Impero, many of them dressed in red coveralls bearing the name of the vessel, are still on the ship, the Iranian embassy in India told Reuters on Monday.
Eighteen of them are Indian nationals – the remainder are Latvian, Russian and Filipino.
“All the crew members including the Indian nationals are in good health, they are still on board the tanker,” the embassy said.
Photos and video of the crew members released on Iranian state media show them sitting around a table laughing and talking, others checking gauges, chopping up food and standing in the bridge.
It was unclear if they were forced to participate in the photos and videos.
The family of 26-year-old crew member Dijo Pappachen said they were informed last Friday that their son would be held.
“Neither has Dijo contacted the family nor could we contact him after the tanker was captured,” his father TV Pappachen told Reuters in their southern India hometown of Kochi.
Video posted on Saturday showed members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard rappelling from a helicopter to the deck of the Stena Impero last Friday.
The seizure of the ship comes just weeks after British Royal Marines seized an Iranian tanker, the Grace 1, in the waters off Gibraltar that it says was smuggling oil to Syria.
Britain called Iran’s actions “unacceptable and highly escalatory.”
With Wire Services