Lana appeal rejected

Greece’s Supreme Court dismissed an appeal on Tuesday filed by the shipping company Times Navigation Inc against the decision of the Appeals Council of Evia which in early June decided not to accept an American request for the seizure of the cargo of the Iranian-flagged Lana tanker.

The tanker had been seized in April by Greece for carrying Iranian oil, on the grounds that it was in violation of the embargo imposed by the United States on Tehran.

Times Navigation, owned by Greek shipowner John Karageorgis, signed an agreement in early May with the US Department of Justice to charter the two tankers on which the Iranian oil was to be transferred from the Lana under the US seizure request.

However, a court in Evia decided in early June not to accept the US request and to lift the seizure of the cargo of the Lana, while ordering its delivery to the Iranian-owned company Saman Gostar Samirom Services.

Following this decision, the way is now open for the release of the two Greek tankers seized by the Revolutionary Guard in Iran during the period in an act of retaliation over the Lana affair.