The crew of a tanker seized by Iran's navy this week are safe, the vessel's Greek owners said on January 14. Empire Navigation said an associate had contacted Iranian authorities and reported that "all the crew members on board the St. Nikolas are safe and in good health." The company said it hadn't been itself able to directly contact the 19-man crew of the Marshall Islands-flagged ship anchored near the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. Eighteen Filipinos and a Greek are on board. Iran said it seized the ship off Oman on January 11 to retaliate for the "theft" of its oil from the same tanker last year by the United States.
