ST NIKOLAS
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Iran offloaded seized tanker
Iran has quietly released the 'St. Nikolas' without the cargo, which hadconsisted of one million barrels of Iraqi crude oil. The ship, which had been held since two years, headed to Oman. The manager Empire Navigation confirmed the ship reached Oman on Jan 10, 2026, and that the crew was in good health. The Iranians had damaged some of the equipment aboard the vessel while holding it to prevent its detection. Iran initially had said it had seized the oil cargo aboard in retaliation for a U.S. seizure, but Reuters reported months later that Iran quietly released the oil in a ship-to-ship transfer.The seizure had been in retaliation against the ship’s manager, the Empire Navigation, Greece. In 2023, the Empire Navigation helped the US authorities to seize the Iranian cargo aboard the vessel, formerly named 'Suez Rajan'. The US Court ordered the seizure of Iranian cargo from Suez Rajan. In August 2023, the Iranian cargo was offloaded from the vessel at the Texas coast. Following this, the tanker was renamed and returned to the Middle East. It had been seized along with its cargo by Iran on Jan 11, 2024. The oil cargo has been transferred through ship-to-ship onto the 'T.'Semahat' (IMO: 9804148) near Larak Island between July 23 and 25 . Tupris, a Turkish refiner, stated that it had purchased the crude oil from SOMO, an Iraqi state oil company. The refiner also noted that the crude oil is now destined for the refinery and scheduled to arrive in September. The 'T. Semahat was moored at Khor Fakkan Anchorage on July 26.
Filipino crew members returned home
Iran has released the Filipino crew members of the 'St. Nikolas', which was seized in January with 145,000 tons of oil on board. The 18 seafarers people were only allowed leave after replacement staff had been arranged. A Greek crew member was released shortly afterwards. The Filipino crew were allowed to go home in groups from the end of January. The latter returned to Manila last week.
Iran allowed crew change
Iran has allowed a crew change from the captured 'St Nikolas', still held off Bandar Abbas. The vessel’s shipmanager, Greece-based Empire Navigation, confirmed in an email that 11 of the 17 remaining seafarers on board the tanker have been released. The 11 Filipino seafarers were due to return home to Manila starting on March 10. Nine of the crew arrived on that day, and two others were due to arrive on March 13. The remaining six seafarers were expected to also return as soon as their replacements arrive. The company expressed its sincere gratitude to our crew for their commendable behaviour and resilience during this trying period, our Manning Agent in Manila and the Department of Migrant Workers for their excellent cooperation. A replacement crew will be arriving at the vessel.
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