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Iran releases youngest St Nikolas seafarerIran releases youngest St Nikolas seafarer

Empire Navigation operator of the St Nikolas says a Greek seafarer from the 19-person St Nikolas crew has been released by the Iranian authorities.

Nick Savvides, Europe correspondent

January 19, 2024

1 Min Read
Front view of tanker at sea
File photo of tankerPhoto: AdobeStock

St Nikolas was seized by the Iranian Navy in the Gulf of Oman on 11 January with 18 Filipino crew and one Greek sailor, who is a cadet.

The company released a statement yesterday evening revealing the “Safe release of the youngest crew member” of the ship.

“The Greek cadet, escorted by the Greek Ambassador to Iran, is onboard a flight to return home. Regardless of this positive news, our company remains committed to the safe release of all crew members. The remaining 18 seafarers, still onboard the vessel anchored at Bandar Abbas in Iran, are in good health and in contact with their families.”

Empire has also made contact with the Filipino ambassador to Iran, who the company said will visit the ship and the remaining crew, on an unspecified date. The Philippines Government is continuing negotiations for the safe release of the vessel’s complement.

About the Author

Nick Savvides

Europe correspondent

Experienced journalist working online, in monthly magazines and daily news coverage. Nick Savvides began his journalistic career working as a freelance from his flat in central London, and has since worked in Athens, while also writing for some major publications including The Observer, The European, Daily Express and Thomson Reuters. 

Most recently Nick joined The Loadstar as the publication’s news editor to develop the profile of the publication, increase its readership and to build a team that will market, sell and report on supply chain issues and container shipping news. 

This was a similar brief to his time at ci-online, the online publication for Containerisation International and Container News. During his time at ci-online Nich developed a team of freelancers and full-time employees increasing its readership substantially. He then moved to International Freighting Weekly, a sister publication, IFW also focused on container shipping, rail and trucking and ports. Both publications were published by Informa. 

Following his spell at Informa Nick joined Reed’s chemical reporting team, ICIS, as the chemical tanker reporter. While at ICIS he also reported on the chemical industry and spent some time on the oil & gas desk. 

Nick has also worked for a time at Lloyd’s Register, which has an energy division, and his role was writing their technical magazine, before again becoming a journalist at The Naval Architect for the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. After eight successful years at RINA, he joined Fairplay, which published a fortnightly magazine and daily news on the website.

Nick's time at Fairplay saw him win the Seahorse Club Journalist of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year 2018 awards.

After Fairplay closed, Nick joined an online US start-up called FreightWaves. 

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