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Official Baku tries to release Azerbaijani ships held hostage in Eritrea, FM Bayramov states

Jeyhun Bayramov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan

20 January 2025 12:56 (UTC +04:00)

Official Baku is trying to release Azerbaijani ships detained in Eritrea, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told journalists, APA reports.

According to the minister, as soon as the initial information on the issue was received, relevant state agencies are trying to resolve the problem through various channels.

He noted that Eritrea does not have an embassy in Azerbaijan, but the Foreign Ministry is trying to resolve the issue through diplomatic channels.

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 Türkiye and Moscow.