NEW DELHI — India’s shipping authorities have announced that 10 Indian sailors, who were on board an oil tanker detained in Iran since July 2025, have been freed following “sustained diplomatic engagement”. India’s Directorate General of Shipping stated that the crew members from the MV Harbour Phoenix had been held, arrested, and jailed by Iranian authorities after their ship was intercepted close to Jask Port last year. “The seafarers have now been released and reunited safely,” the shipping authority said, according to the French news agency AFP. “Necessary arrangements are being coordinated for the earliest return of the crew members to India,” it added. New Delhi and Tehran have long-standing diplomatic and energy ties, but India also balances that with close links to the United States and to Israel. India has pursued a policy of quiet diplomacy and minimal public comment during negotiations for the release of the sailors. The shipping directorate did not give further details on the reason for their arrest or about the vessel, which ship tracking sites list as a Palau-flagged oil products tanker. India has one of the world’s largest merchant navy workforces, with thousands of Indian sailors operating in Gulf shipping lanes.
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