British forces detained Ajay Pant from the MV Smyrtos on June 14 for allegedly breaching the sanctions imposed on Moscow\u2019s oil\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Indian captain of an oil tanker is facing up to ten years behind bars in the UK after getting caught disobeying the sanctions that the West has built up to isolate Russia.\u00a0
\nAjay Pant was commanding the MV Smyrtos when the British authorities intercepted it in international waters and detained him in June.The Smyrtos is a \u201cshadow fleet\u201d tanker, so named for transporting crude oil and petroleum products from Iran and Russia in defiance of unilateral Western sanctions against them. China, India, and the rest of the Global South, apart from Russia, have argued that the sanctions are illegal because they have not been approved by the United Nations Security Council.
\nPant\u2019s appeal is coming up for hearing on Thursday. His earlier bail plea was denied, because the UK court felt he could get Russian help to abscond or flee.\u00a0The 38-year-old father of two is from the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, and is the primary caregiver of his elderly parents. His wife, Ritu, has publicly advocated for his release and called him a \u201cscapegoat.\u201d\u00a0 She has pointed out that the vessel\u2019s owners are responsible for cargo and routing decisions. Pant was also the only individual charged by UK authorities.
\nThe owner of the vessel is Hong Kong-based Zhao Yao Shipping, SeaTrade Maritime News reported. Chennai-based Vika Line Marine Services is its international safety manager.\u00a0Most of the ship\u2019s 24-member crew had returned to their home countries by August, news reports say, while some are still on the Smyrtos, which is anchored off the coast of Weymouth and Portland in Dorset, England.
\nIndia said on Tuesday it has stepped up diplomatic efforts to help Pant.
\n\u201cWe have been in touch with the lawyers of Captain Pant as well as his family,\u201d India\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said. \u201cThe High Commission has paid several visits to Captain Pant to check on his well-being. We have also facilitated the visit of his family members, his wife in particular.\u201d
\nThe vessel has been under EU and UK sanctions since October 2025. It was flying the Cameroon flag when it departed Russia with its cargo, but the African nation removed the vessel from its national ship registry a few days before its interception.<\/p>\n
A military helicopter and ships seen near the MV Smyrtos vessel outside the harbour, on June 14, 2026 in Portland, England.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Getty Images \/ Finnbarr Webster <\/p>\n
The UK authorities claim that when a vessel is considered stateless, Britain has a right to exercise powers under its domestic legislation.
\nExperts and the Seafarer\u2019s union, however, say the detention of the captain of a ship in international waters has created a worrying precedent. They point out that this is the first time that a European nation has held a ship captain on such charges.
\n\u201cSeafarers will often not know that their ship might be carrying sanctioned oil, and that they\u2019re potentially open to getting caught up in a geopolitical conflict,\u201d Steve Yandell, coordinator of the seafarers\u2019 section of the International Transport Workers\u2019 Federation was quoted as saying by AFP.
\nThe Forward Seamen\u2019s Union of India has demanded a faster trial. \u201cIt is a minimum requirement of the international unions that there should be a fast trial court for such cases, when a foreign seafarer is detained in a third country,\u201d FSUI official Manoj Yadav said. A trial that could last four weeks has been reportedly scheduled for December 15.
\nThe development is especially concerning for India, which has an estimated 320,000 seafarers, working on ships across the globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
British forces detained Ajay Pant from the MV Smyrtos on June 14 for allegedly breaching the sanctions imposed on Moscow\u2019s oil\u00a0 The Indian captain of an oil tanker is facing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t