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 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 intermodal ...

owned by Gortal Shipping and leased to Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). The ship, with a crew of 25 people, was boarded by Iranian commandos 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 th ...

, 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 c ...

(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 potenti ...

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 under the law of the

International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO, French: ''Organisation maritime internationale'') is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference ...

. 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

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 grou ...

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 Napoli ...

, 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 NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

for "security consultations," and defence secretary Lloyd Austin called the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, 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".

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

Background

''MSC Aries''

Events

Reactions

See also

References