Dubai (AFP)
Stena Impero, the British flag-carrying Swedish tanker, heads for Dubai port on Saturday, the day after its release by Iran, according to the ship tracking website MarineTraffic.com.
The ship left Friday the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas (south) where it was anchored since its seizure more than two months ago and stopped in the night off the United Arab Emirates, according to MarineTraffic.com. He is currently en route to the port of Dubai.
The Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological army, boarded the 183-meter tanker on July 19, accusing it of ignoring distress calls and turning off its transponder after colliding with a fishing boat.
His arrest came after an announcement of the prolongation of the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker by the authorities of Gibraltar, a British territory in the extreme south of Spain. Tehran had denied that it was a reprisal. The Iranian tanker was later released.
These seizures came amidst tensions in the region, exacerbated by the standoff between Iran and the United States, two enemy countries that have not maintained diplomatic relations since 1980.
On Wednesday, Iran said that the seizure of the Stena Impero has been lifted but that the criminal record "concerning offenses and environmental damage would remain open". "The captain and the owner have signed on this subject a written undertaking by which they accept (in advance) the verdict" to be pronounced at the end of the proceedings.
Images released Saturday by the Iranian agency show the boat's captain sign what appears to be the ship's release documents before he leaves the port. We also see crew members, dressed in red and protective helmets, lift anchor.
burs-sy-sls / mdz / tp
© 2019 AFP