Shipowners president: All states must work to end Iranian ‘hostage-taking’ of Greek ships

All states need to intervene to secure the release of two Greek-flagged ships and their crews from Iran, the president of the Union of Greek Shipowners said on Thursday, describing the “hostage-taking of our two ships in Iran” as “something unheard of and unprecedented.”

“Two ships under the Greek flag are being held, their crews are being held, among them young people who are on their first voyage. The whole international shipping community, states, need to stand up and end this situation,” Melina Travlos said, addressing the media at the Posidonia shipping exhibition in Athens. 

Earlier, Shipping Minister Giannis Plakiotakis said the Iranian seizures of the ships “violates all notion of the law, disrupts the regulatory system of the Law of the Sea, threatens the safety of navigation and world trade.”

He called on “all states to act to put an end to this unacceptable event and to ensure that it does not happen again. The Law of the Sea is the foundation for all activity and is non-negotiable. Not only for global shipping but also for global prosperity.”