DUBAI: The British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero headed into port in Dubai on Saturday after being held off the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas for more than two months, according to authorities and a tracking website.The ship’s seizure was widely seen as a tit-for-tat move after authorities in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar detained an Iranian tanker on suspicion it was shipping oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions.Tehran repeatedly denied the cases were related.The Stena Impero sailed from Iran and into international waters of the Gulf on Friday morning, according to local authorities. The vessel arrived off Dubai shortly after midnight local time (2000 GMT) and halted in the busy waterway overnight, said ship tracking website MarineTraffic.com.It began heading to its anchorage in the emirate on Saturday, according to the website which said it was “underway using engine”.The CEO of Stena Bulk, the Swedish company that owns the vessel, said the ship’s sailing was “ obviously a relief” and that the priority now was those on board.The tanker’s crew are “safe and in high spirits” and arrangements have been made for them to return to their families upon arrival in Dubai, Hannel said earlier.The company did not release the names of the crew members.Iran´s Revolutionary Guards seized the vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19 after surrounding it with attack boats and rappelling onto its deck.It was impounded off the port of Bandar Abbas for allegedly failing to respond to distress calls and turning off its lights.The US has since formed a coalition with its allies Australia, Bahrain, Britain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to escort commercial shipping in the Gulf.Tehran has warned that the planned US-led International Maritime Security Construct will cause more, not less instability and has proposed a rival security plan of its own.Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, President Hassan Rouhani this week announced a plan called “Hormuz Peace Endeavour” or “HOPE”.He gave no details but called on all of Iran’s Gulf neighbours to join, saying: “Security cannot be provided with American weapons and intervention.”Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on Thursday that the plan calls for “dialogue, confidence-building, freedom of navigation, energy security, non-aggression, non-intervention”.
09-29-2019, 11:22 AM
Stena Impero heads into Dubai port
العرض العادي
