So what is the REAL reason the Grace 1 was arrested?
Brexit MAY have something to do with it. When they leave the EU they are going to need a trade deal with the US and all the goodwill they can get from the US Government.
They have to try to keep Trump happy with more than just a State Visit and a formal dinner with the Queen. This MAY have been one such gesture.
Meanwhile, UK is getting acceptance for it’s proposal to create a European Naval Coalition to protect shipping in the Straits of Hormuz:
Which may NOT please President Trump. He has proposed a US lead coalition to do the same, which has not received much enthusiasm from the Europeans, or from anybody else.
The US proposal is aiming as much at stopping Iranians from exporting oil and other commodities as protecting international shipping.
As Trump pointed out. US doesn’t have many tankers or other merchant ships operating in the Persian Gulf, so any coalition partners should pay for the privilege of participating, but not have any command over the operation:
I concur. The Brits do not seem to understand that once they have left the EU they are on their own and from that moment on will be totally dependent on the humors of Trump. You can be assured that he will mercilessly exploit that fact up to the hilt. It is over with Britannia Rules The Waves, only Boris Johnson still thinks otherwise.
There are no Gibraltarian waters. And M/T Grace 1 (Panama flag) was in Moroccan waters when being attacked and captured by some British pirates operating out of Gibraltar. Spain considers Gibraltar 100% illegal, etc. I have never understood why Spain simply doesn’t stop the Gibraltar nonsense.
How do you know? Anyway, on behalf of her Majesty the Queen of England & Co,Prime Minister Ms. May must have ordered the illegal attack. I fully understand and support the ship and cargo owners being upset about it. Solution? Arbitration in London?
?? Is this RN sinking some Argentinian scrap in south Atlantic? When I was active in my RN (Swedish), we just blow up the enemy ships, if war had been declared. When we attacked, the objective was to destroy the enemy. Not to capture it. Just sink it.
Have you been in a Navy?
I didn’t know that Sweden had been in a war lately, so I Googled it:
Oh yes, 1814, when Norway became joined with Sweden in an uneven Union.
It was close again in 1905, when Norway pulled out of the Union. But the Swedes realised that they would be loosing any war.
Since then they have mainly been looking for Russian submarines lurking in their waters , without much luck.
OK they did spot one, on the rocks outside their naval base at Karlkrona in 1981.
The famous “Whiskey on the rocks incident”:
That would have been around your time, doing national service in the Navy. Maybe you where there helping to “scare off the Russkis”??
Not much chance of your RN doing that anymore. In 1972 the Swedes decreed that non-military measures should be used to protect merchant shipping. The resolution led to the de-commissioning of all the Swedish navy’s destroyers and frigates, though the non-military measures the government intended to use to protect shipping have never been specified. All that is left is a handful of old subs, some corvettes, and a dozen or so patrol boats.
I would think that well before the decision to board the Grace 1, the UK’s Foreign Office and the Solicitor General’s Office would have been fully consulted as the matter is sure to end up in the courts. British judges like our own, judge impartially. The military do what the government tell them to do, unlike some jurisdictions where the military tell the government what to do.
Gibraltar has been a British territory for over 300 years and the inhabitants want it to stay that way.
Has anyone seen an AIS plot showing the track of the Grace 1 prior to the apprehension by the RN. Gibraltar is 11.1 miles from Morocco and no part of the Straits of Gibraltar is in international waters. Some is Spain’s , some is Gibraltar and some is Morocco’s. under convention all ships of all flags have the right of Innocent passage.
I will leave it to the reader to fill in the blanks.
Correct - the Swedish Navy was mostly scrap when I was active in it 1965/70. But it, or its warriors, have been at war since then at Afghanistan 2002/14 and at Libya! Not very popular and Sweden lost at Afghanistan 2014 and had to retreat. Of course 1939/40 Sweden assisted Finland being attacked by USSR but when Hitler attacked Norway 1940 Sweden decided to support Hitler with logistical support. It wasn’t popular in Norway.
My job in the Swedish Navy was R&M and to transform merchant ships to mine layers, which I did 1970. An old tug became a war ship under my directions with WP and NATO (and Finland) looking on. And since then (1970) I carry on with R&M and transformation of merchant ships of all sorts.
The Brits should sail Grace 1 to the UK, take the oil, and sell the ship. The sales proceeds should be used to compensate Stena for the loss of their tanker, compensate the crew, and provide security for UK ships in the Gulf.
On the other hand the Iranian state oil company could simply nominate say, Tarragona and the Grace 1 can simply complete her voyage. Charges of sanction busting/obstruction would still have to be answered to Gibraltar’s government satisfaction. This course of action that has already been pointed out to the Iranians but then that wouldn’t help their mate Bashar, would it?
Any port other than in Syria should do. Who say the oil couldn’t stay in storage for a week or two somewhere, then miraculously appearing on board a few smaller tankers, with “origin” xxxx??
It has been nearly 4 weeks sitting idle in Bandar Abbas for the crew of Stena Imperion and nearly 6 weeks for the crew of Grace 1 off Gibraltar.
Both ships have a number of Indian nationals on board and now the Indian PM is being asked to make use if his good relations with Iran to get them freed and returned home:
