Relatives of the Azerbaijani crew of the ships "CMS Pahlavan", "CMS Igid" and "CMS-3" detained in Eritrea held a protest in front of the company "Caspian Marine Services B.V.

Axar.az, citing APА, reports that the purpose of the protest was to obtain information about the negotiation process for the release of the ship and crew detained in Eritrea.

The father of the arrested Saleh Poladov, Velad Poladov, said that they have not heard from his son for 3 months: "We want to get information from the company. It has been 3 months now. How will this end? The arrested crew members used to contact us once a week while they were on the ship. Now there is no news."

Mahmud Rustamov's father, Amrah Rustamov, said that they had met with company officials, as well as with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, several times regarding the incident: "We have also been to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but there was no result. We ask our state to reunite our children with us. We stated at the Caspian Marine Services protest that they can save the ship whenever they want, this is the company's business. The last time the company said 2 weeks ago that they would take the documents and leave in 3 days. There's no one to say the exact date."

Family members said that the 18-member crew has been away from their families for 3 months.

Later, the company's deputy director, Agshin Rahimov, received relatives of those detained as a result of the Eritrean government's decision. The meeting was closed to media representatives.

After the meeting, the meeting participants said that Agshin Rahimov, who received them, said that there were several reasons for the delay in the process, and it was additionally emphasized that diplomatic relations with Eritrea pose difficulties. Thus, visas are not issued in connection with this issue, and even if an application is made, it is rejected. The families of those detained were also informed by the company that work is underway to secure their release.

Caspian Marine Services B.V. has not made any statement on the matter.

Recall that on November 7, 2024, the ships "CMS Pahlevan", "CMS Yigid" and "CMS-3", sailing under the state flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan and operated by the branch of "Caspian Marine Services B.V." in the Republic of Azerbaijan, made a forced entry into the territorial waters of the State of Eritrea as a result of worsening weather conditions during their trip from the Suez Canal to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Although prior contact was made with the port authorities of the State of Eritrea during the crossing, since it was not possible to provide information, after entering the 12-mile territorial waters of the state, the relevant authority of the State of Eritrea emphasized that the entry was unauthorized and detained the vessels in question.

18 of the crew members on the vessels whose names are mentioned are citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan. After the initial information about the incident was received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 07.11.2024, we immediately reacted to the incident and took control of the issue. In order to take necessary measures, the legal justification that the entry into the territorial waters of the State of Eritrea does not contradict international legal norms was conveyed to the Eritrean side through our embassies in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Russian Federation through a relevant note. Relevant meetings were held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Eritrea, and the Eritrean embassies in Turkiye and Moscow.