Maersk ‘in dialogue’ with Iranian courts about seized containership

Oil executive quoted as saying ship will be sold unless $10 million paid.    Maersk Line said Tuesday it is “in dialogue with the Iranian courts” about the Maersk Tigris, a containership it charters that was fired upon and arrested while passing through the Strait of Hormuz last week.
   The Danish shipping company said in an update, “We will not at this point provide further details as to what this entails.”
   Maersk charters the vessel, which is owned by an investor group affiliated with Oaktree Capital Management. The ship is operated and crewed by Rickmers Shipmanagement. Maersk said, “According to the latest update from Rickmers Shipmanagement, the crew of Maersk Tigris remains safe and in good spirits.”
   Maersk said the ship was seized as part of a decade-old cargo dispute.
   Iran’s FARS news agency quoted Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, who said the Marshall Islands-flagged Maersk Tigris, would be freed after Maersk pays compensation money to the Iranian company that has sued it.
   “According to the court ruling issued in the case involving this ship, it will be released after paying the compensation money to the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Sayyari said in an interview with the state-run TV station on Tuesday, FARS said.
   Separately, the website PressTV said Hamid-Reza Jahanian, the managing director of Pars Tala’eyeh Oil Products Company, which is involved in the legal dispute, said the ship will be sold unless the Danish shipping company pays $10 million in losses allegedly suffered by the company.