India seeking arbitration for vessel impounded in Iran

New Delhi is seeking arbitration from a third country in the dispute with Tehran over an Indian oil tanker impounded by Iranian naval forces for causing widespread pollution in the Persian Gulf.
According to a report published in The Indian Express on Tuesday, Indian Ambassador to Tehran Shri D.P. Srivastava advised Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh in late August that “arbitration is a better option than bilateral negotiations.”
The Indian ambassador later pitched for arbitration in a neutral country, arguing that mutual talks between India and Iran over the seizure of MT Desh Shanti could become “a continuing irritant” in relations between the two countries.
Srivastava further noted that direct negotiations between New Delhi and Tehran would also allow the Indian vessel’s insurers, Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Club, to escape responsibility on the pretext that it cannot transfer money to Iran to release MT Desh Shanti due to US-led sanctions imposed on Tehran.
Iran’s Navy intercepted the Indian oil tanker MT Desh Shanti, carrying Iraqi oil through the Persian Gulf on its way to India, on August 13. The vessel was carrying 140,000 tons of crude oil from Iraq to India.
On August 20, India’s Directorate General of Shipping sent a delegation including a senior official with the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and members of Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) to Iran’s southern port of Bandar Abbas to inspect MT Desh Shanti technically.
Source: Press TV