Stena Impero tanker crew safe and well, operator says

All 23 crew members of a British-flagged tanker detained by Iranian authorities are safe and well, the tanker’s operator has said.

Swedish company Stena Bulk, which owns the Stena Impero released a statement on Wednesday morning confirming it had directly spoken to the crew.

"We had direct contact with the crew on board the vessel last night by telephone and they're all okay and in good health and they're getting good cooperation with the Iranians on board," the firm's spokesman Pat Adamson said.

“Family members are being updated on the latest developments and will continue to receive our full support,” a company statement added.

The Stena Impero was seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on Friday from the Hormuz Strait shipping route. Tehran said the tanker was "violating international maritime rules", but the seizure is thought to be a retaliation for UK marines impounding oil tanker Grace 1 in Gibraltar. British authorities said the ship was carrying Iranian oil to Syria in contravention of EU laws.

The contact with Impero and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's suggestion he is ready for "just" talks on the issue have raised hopes of a peaceful resolution to the tanker spat.

Earlier this week Iran released photos and video of the crew, made up of Russian, Filipino, Indian and Latvian nationals, aboard the ship.

“We do of course appreciate this step of development and that this is a first sign that we will soon see more positive progress from the Iranian authorities,” said Erik Hanell, CEO of Stena Bulk.

Iranian authorities claimed on Wednesday that Britain had sent a mediator to Iran to discuss the freeing of the Impero, according to the semi-official Tasnim news site.

Mohammad Mohammadi-Golpayegani provided no details about the British mediator's supposed trip.

However, an Foreign Office spokeswoman told The National the department was not aware of any British representative being sent to Iran to mediate.

Hassan Rouhani says Iran ready for 'just' negotiations after tanker seizure

Ghost ships: how Iran avoids US oil sanctions

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt this week announced plans to develop and deploy a "maritime protection mission" but gave few details. Britain, France and Germany have remained parties to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and aren't joining the US campaign of "maximum pressure" on Tehran.

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger said Wednesday that Britain and France have a "traditional naval presence in the Gulf" and their ideas for a European-led mission build on that.

Mr Burger said that Germany is in talks with them but "the conceptual deliberations are still at the beginning." He said it's too early to discuss "possible forms of German support or participation" but the talks haven't yet featured calls for German military contributions.

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Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

While you're here

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Khaled Yacoub Oweis: Hezbollah bids to control Lebanon’s financial system

National Editorial: Hezbollah's murky dealings in Iraq have been unveiled

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From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

If you go

The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.

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The essentials

What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

When: Friday until March 9

Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City

Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.

Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.

Information: www.emirateslitfest.com

Sole survivors

Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.

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Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

The candidates

Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive

Ali Azeem, business leader

Tony Booth, professor of education

Lord Browne, former BP chief executive

Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist

Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist

Dr Mark Mann, scientist

Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner

Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister

Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster

How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?

Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269

*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year

Brief scoreline:

Manchester United 2

Rashford 28', Martial 72'

Watford 1

Doucoure 90'

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950