Pars Tala'eyeh Oil Products Company officials hoped that the Iranian Ports
and Maritime Organization has received "sufficient assurances and a solemn
promise" from Maersk Line company for guaranteed compensation of their
financial losses as mentioned in the court ruling.
Thu May 07, 2015 2:39
EXCLUSIVE: Maersk Tigris Freed, Leaves Iran's Waters
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940217000656

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham announced
on Thursday that the Marshall Islands-flagged ship that was seized by
Iranian naval forces at a court order last week, was freed this morning and
has left Iran's waters.

"Today the (Maersk Tigris) ship was released and it left the Iranian
territorial waters," Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said.

She said all the ship crew members were fully safe and healthy when they
left Iran's waters.

Meantime, Pars Tala'eyeh Oil Products Company officials hoped that the
Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization has received "sufficient assurances
and a solemn promise" from Maersk Line company for guaranteed compensation
of their financial losses as mentioned in the court ruling.

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari had announced on
Tuesday that Maersk Tigris will be freed after its owner, Maersk Line
Shipping Co. pays compensation money to the Iranian company that had sued
it.

"According to the court ruling issued in the case involving this ship, it
will be released after paying the compensation money to the Islamic Republic
of Iran," Sayyari said in an interview with the state-run TV.

His remarks came after Managing-Director of Pars Tala'eyeh Oil Products
Company Hamidreza Jahanian said Maersk Tigris had been kept in custody
because it owed $10mln to his company.

"Unfortunately, a number of containers sent by Pars Tala'eyeh Oil Products
Company through the Maersk Line Shipping Co. were not delivered to the
customer in Jebel Ali in 2003, which initiated financial disputes between us
and Maersk Line Shipping Co. then," Jahanian told FNA on Saturday.

Since Maersk Line Shipping Co. had some differences with its representative
in Iran, it refrained from delivering the goods to the customer and the
efforts to pursue the case through the company proved futile, he added.

He said the losses incurred on Pars Tala'eyeh Oil Products Company in that
case were estimated at $10mln, and Tala'eyeh Oil Products Company filed
lawsuit on the restitution of the carried goods with an Iranian court and
the court ruled in favor of the Iranian company.

Jahanian underlined that if Maersk Line Shipping Co. compensates for Pars
Tala'eyeh Oil Products Company, the ship will be released, otherwise, the
assets and properties on the ship and even the vessel itself will be put up
to tender and will be sold to make up for the losses inflicted on the
Iranian company.

The Iranian naval forces seized the trade vessel with all its crew in the
Persian Gulf last week and immediately took it to Shaheed Bahonar Port in
Southern Iran.

After informed sources told FNA that "the ship ... has been seized by the
Iranian naval forces at the request of Iran's Ports and Maritime
Organization", Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization (IPMO) Deputy Chief
Hadi Haqshenas explained that Maersk Tigris has been engaged in payment
disputes with the Iranian Pars Tala'eyeh Oil Products Company for several
years.

He said the Iranian company had "started litigation in recent years to sue
Maersk Line Shipping Co.", adding that "after the court of appeal upheld the
initial court ruling in the favor of the Iranian company, ordering Maersk
Line Shipping Co. to make up for the financial losses of the plaintiff, the
decree was sent to IPMO - which is in charge of maritime affairs according
to the international laws and regulations - on March 15, 2015 to be put into
effect".

"The IPMO then requested the operational forces to put the court ruling in
action," Haqshenas continued.

Haqshenas's statements were later repeated in an official statement of the
IPMO, where the organization underscored that the seizure was "purely the
result of a legal case and not a military development in nature".

The statement also added that all the moves made with regard to the vessel,
including the court proceedings and ruling, "fully comply with the
international laws and maritime rules and regulations".

"The IPMO is no party of interest in this litigation by any means as it has
never filed any complaint against the abovementioned (Maersk) company," the
statement emphasized.

"Given the legal nature of the case and considering that the responsibility
for the seized vessel falls under the judicial authority now, its release
will only be possible through a judicial decree," it stressed.

The IPMO statement also reiterated that Maersk Co. has been fully briefed
about the detailed measures adopted with regard to the vessel and the crew
since its seizure in the Strait of Hormuz.

Maersk Co. confirmed last week that the crew is safe. Cor Radings, a
spokesman for the ship’s operator, Rickmers Ship Management in Singapore,
said the company had been in touch by phone with the crew earlier in the
day.

“We have had the confirmation that they are in relatively good condition and
safe on board the ship,” he said.

Radings identified the crew members as “mainly from Eastern Europe and
Asia.” He said the ship was owned by “private investors” but would not
elaborate.

Iranian sources had earlier stated that the crew members were from Britain,
Bulgaria, Romania and Myanmar.

International law recognizes Iran that has the lengthiest coastline (more
than 2,000km) on the rims of the Persian Gulf as to be in charge of security
in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

In Iran, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy is responsible for
protecting security of territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, while the
naval forces of the regular army are in charge of security in the Caspian
Sea as well as missions in the high seas.