Tanker “Lana”: the end of a dirty story?

The process of transferring crude oil from the Greek tanker Ice Energy to the Iranian tanker Lana is hours away at the anchorage in Piraeus as the Supreme Court’s ruling dismissed, as expected, the Times Navigation shipping company’s appeal against the Iranian tanker Lana. , was finally approved.

Times Navigation chartered two tankers to carry the 104,000 tons of crude oil that the Lana was carrying. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the appeal on his behalf was not legal, according to the Greek publication. OT.

At the time of publication (Friday 29 July 20:30), according to the site marine trafficthe tanker “LANA” was in the roadstead of Piraeus, not far from the island of Salamina, waiting for the loading of oil on board.

It is assumed that to beginning of next week the transfer of oil will be completed, after which the Iranians will begin procedures for the release two ships under the Greek flagdetained in retaliation by Iranian authorities in the Persian Gulf.

According to reports, there is already some activity near the Greek ships, according to a representative of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is in the area to monitor everything that happens. He reported that the Greeks, crew members of the tankers, are in good health, but suffer greatly from the long stay on the ships.

The two Greek-flagged tankers under arrest are Diamantis Diamantidis’ Delta Poseidon of Delta Tankers and Spyros Polemis’s Prudent Warrior of Polembros Shipping Limited. The Delta Poseidon had a crew of 25, of which two were Greeks, while the crew of the Prudent Warrior was 23, of which eight were Greek and one Cypriot.

One of the shameful pages of Greek history seems to be coming to an end…

This story began in April 2022, when the Greek authorities arrested the ship Lana under the Iranian flagformerly called pegasus, with 19 Russian crew members on board, off the coast of the island of Evia, allegedly due to European Union sanctions.

In early April, the Russian-flagged Pegas tanker offloaded 115,000 tons of oil from the Iranian island of Sirri in the Persian Gulf for transportation to a Russian-controlled Black Sea port, in accordance with a bilateral agreement between Iran and Russia. According to other sources, the tanker was heading to the Turkish port of Marmaris.

United Against Nuclear Iran, a bipartisan, non-profit human rights organization based in the United States, with the stated goal of “preventing Iran from realizing its ambitions of becoming a regional nuclear-weapon superpower,” issued a statement on the matter, and its head Mark Wallace urged Greece and the prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis proceed immediately with the confiscation of the oil tanker. As a “justification” for this, it was stated that Greece is a member EU and NATO, and therefore should contribute to the implementation of the sanctions regime against Iranian oil.

tanker”Pegas”which the passed past Greecereceived mechanical power plant damage, because of which he was forced to call rescuers. The plans were thwarted by the aggression of nature – due to unfavorable conditions, the tanker was towed to the roadstead of the port of Karistos (Evia Island).

As soon as the ship was in Greek territorial waters, the Greek coast guard announced its arrest. The decision to block it, according to information protothema.gr, adopted by the Anti-Money Laundering Authority in the context of the implementation of the sanctions that were imposed by NATO and EU in relation to ships flying the Russian flag.

According to a statement from the Greek authorities, the ship was arrested because it was found to belong to a Russian bank that is on the sanctions list. EU in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Later it turned out that at the time of the arrest, the ship already belonged to Iran and was operated by the Russian company Transmorflot.

“April 28, the Port Authority was instructed to release the vessel,” the Athenian News source said, without elaborating. At the same time, in the port declaredthat the ship’s oil cargo had not been seized. However, the statement of the Greek authorities turned out to be false.

As it turned out later, tanker cargo also appeared bidders from… USA. Since the oil on board the tanker was of Iranian origin (115,000 tons), it, according to US law, automatically becomes … the property of the United States, based on an instant decision of the Greek court.

Iran did not understand the game and announced a hostile act by capturing 2 Greek tankers

In the comments of the publication cathimerini officials in Athens declaredthat the US embargo on Iranian oil is in effect only in the United States, but not in the European Union, and thus cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Greek court’s decision. The same sources told the publication that prior to the incident with the tanker, “the risk of Iranian retaliation was duly indicated if Greece continued to comply with the US request, despite appropriate legal restrictions.” However, such warnings, they said, were not heeded.

As expected, after such treatment of its cargo, Tehran warned that it would take “punitive measures” against Athens. The Greek authorities pretended not to hear the threat again until Iran finally captured two Greek tankerswhich predictably led to tensions between the two countries, with the Greeks calling the takeover “piracy” and the Iranians calling the Greeks “enemies”.

After that, the Greek authorities began to play up and again arrested the tanker “Lana”, acting, allegedly, on the basis of an interim court order in relation to alleged debts to another shipping company, they say, the case is related to unpaid towing services.

I’m not me, and the hut is not mine

As it turned out later, at the time of the second arrest of the tanker, there was no longer any debt existed, since the company that owns the tanker had already paid off the owners of the tug by that time. However, the Greek authorities continued to hold the tanker and refused to return the oil, doing everything possible to drag out the case.

“The ruling has been canceled, the confiscation has been canceled, and therefore the property must be returned to the owner,” said a legal representative of the shipping company. Panagiotis Chiotelis. This means that the seized amount, 107,000 tons of Iranian oil, must be returned and the tanker allowed to leave.

It would seem that everything, the court made a decision, the court of appeal confirmed it, the oil must be returned, the tanker should be lowered, but it was not there …

It was a pity to give oil (already its own)since the oil downloaded from “Lana” is already long gone to the USA, besides, the Americans were actively pressing on the Greeks, demanding to find any methods to drag out the case. On the other hand, the Greek owners of tankers (and these are not the last people in the country) detained by Iran also put pressure on the Greek authorities, who had to spin like a snake in a frying pan.

The latest decision is already the Supreme Court of Appeal of Greeceseems to be supposed to put point in this dirty story. However, she really will end no earlier than the tanker “Lana” leaves the Greek territorial waters, because there are too many forces for which it is unprofitable.

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