
On 13 April 2024
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
seized ''MSC Aries,'' a Portuguese-
registered
Registered may refer to:
* Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody
* Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...
and
Madeira-flagged container ship
A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...
owned by Gortal Shipping and leased to
Mediterranean Shipping Company
Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. (MSC) is an international shipping line founded by Gianluigi Aponte in Italy in 1970, with headquarters in Switzerland since 1978. The privately held company is owned by the Aponte family. It has been the larg ...
(MSC). The ship, with a crew of 25 people, was boarded by Iranian
commando
40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured
A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations forc ...
s in the
Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz ( fa, تنگه هرمز ''Tangeh-ye Hormoz'' ar, مَضيق هُرمُز ''Maḍīq Hurmuz'') is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the ...
, within international waters off the coast of the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at ...
, and taken to Iranian waters, effectively imprisoning the crew.
The United States, United Kingdom, and Portugal (where the ship is registered) called for the ship's release immediately afterwards.
Background
Since 2019 Iran has engaged in heightened naval action against European, American and Israeli shipping, persistently attacking various vessels and seizing ships amidst political issues, dubbed "
piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
" by Israeli outlets in 2023. Both the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas and article 101(1)(a) of the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 ...
(UNCLOS) state that piracy occurs on the high seas. Additionally, Article 58(2) of UNCLOS states that piracy can occur in an
exclusive economic zone. Violent acts against ships in the
territorial sea
The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and poten ...
of any State cannot be piracy under
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
. Violent acts in
territorial seas
The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...
are
armed robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
under the law of the
International Maritime Organization. The event occurred during an escalation between Iran and Israel during the
proxy war between Israel and Iran and
Hamas
Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
. United States president
Joe Biden warned Iran not to escalate the situation in the week preceding the incident.
''MSC Aries''
''MSC Aries'' is a
container ship
A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...
built in 2020. As of 2024 the ship is
Portuguese-registered and
Madeira-flagged. She has a length of and a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
* Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
** Laser beam
* Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...
of . It has a and a summer tonnage of . The ship is leased by MSC from Gortal Shipping, an affiliate of
Zodiac Maritime
Zodiac Maritime Ltd is an international ship management company. Zodiac is also a large ship owner and charters out these vessels. It is part of Ofer Global, based in Monaco, and the chairman is Eyal Ofer.
Zodiac was involved in the MSC Napol ...
,
with MSC directing the ship's activities.
Events
On the morning of 13 April 2024,
Iran's Revolutionary Guards
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
boarded and took control of ''MSC Aries'' via helicopter, claiming that it had violated maritime law.
[ The seizure of the ship occurred in international waters near the UAE coast. The Israeli foreign minister called the Iranian action an act of international piracy, in alignment with international law. The Iranian military subsequently took the ship and its crew to Iranian waters. The 25 crew members onboard comprised 17 Indians, four Filipinos, two Pakistanis, one Russian and one Estonian national.
On April 27, the Iranian Foreign Minister ]Hossein Amirabdollahian
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian ( fa, حسین امیرعبداللهیان; born 1964) is an Iranian politician, diplomat and current foreign minister of Iran. He was formerly the deputy foreign minister for Arab and African Affairs from 2011 to 2016.
...
announced that the 24 remaining crew of ''MSC Aries'' being held were given access to their respective consulates, and would be released. On May 3, he announced that the crew was released, but the vessel remained under the control of Iran.
Reactions
Following the incident, the Israeli foreign minister called on the European Union to sanction the IRGC. Joe Biden shortened his vacation and returned to the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...
for "security consultations," and defence secretary Lloyd Austin
Lloyd James Austin III (born August 8, 1953) is a retired United States Army four-star general who, since his appointment on January 22, 2021, has served as the 28th United States secretary of defense. He is the first African American to serv ...
called the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant
Yoav Gallant (; born 8 November 1958) is an Israeli politician and former military officer. A member of the Knesset for Likud, he has served as Minister of Defense since 2022. He is a former commander of the Southern Command in the Israel Def ...
, and said Israel can rely on the United States. On 18 April, 16 shipping associations sent a joint letter to the United Nations requesting every effort to release the captive crew of ''MSC Aries'', and for "enhanced military presence, missions and patrols in the region to protect seafarers".
See also
* 2024 Iranian strikes in Israel
On 13 April 2024, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a branch of the Iranian military, Iranian Armed Forces, in collaboration with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, Lebanon, Lebanese militant g ...
References
{{2024 shipwrecks
2024 Iran–Israel conflict
Maritime incidents in 2024
Iran–Israel relations
Iran–Israel proxy conflict
Iran–Israel military relations
History of the Persian Gulf
April 2024 events in Asia
April 2024 events in Israel
April 2024 events in Iran
2024 in Iran
2024 in Israel
Strait of Hormuz