Stena Bulk boss writes to Narendra Modi to resolve Stena Impero impasse

With the crew of the Stena Impero now detained for nearly four weeks in Iran, Stena Bulk’s chief executive and president Erik Hanell has written to Narendra Modi, asking the Indian prime minister to personally intervene to negotiate with Tehran.

Eighteen of the 23 crew detained on the Stena product carrier are Indian nationals – and there are a number of other Indians detained from two other smaller tankers in Iran, as well as on the Grace 1, an Iranian VLCC detained by British authorities in Gibraltar at the start of last month.

“[B]efore the situation with those on board and with their families becomes more distressing, I would request you to personally intervene and ask for the release of the crew back to their families, who anxiously await their safe return,” Hanell wrote in his letter to Modi.

India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar has said the Indian embassy in Tehran is in “constant contact” with the Iranian authorities for the release and repatriation of the 18 Indian crew members onboard Stena Impero.