Iran has released the oil cargo from the Greek-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged tanker it had seized in the Gulf of Oman earlier this year, according to a shipping source who spoke to Reuters.
While the cargo, consisting of 1 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil intended for Turkey, has been released, the vessel, M/T St. Nikolas, remains under Iranian custody. The cargo was transferred to the Turkish-flagged tanker T. Semahat earlier this week through a ship-to-ship transfer near Iran’s Larak Island, as reported by Claire Jungman, chief of staff at the US advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, which monitors Iranian tanker activity via satellite.
As informed, the Turkish operator of T. Semahat, Ditas—majority-owned by Turkish refiner Tupras—was not immediately reachable for comment. The tanker had been heading for the port of Fujairah in the UAE and was seen leaving Iran on Thursday.
LSEG data also indicated that T. Semahat arrived at Larak Island on July 21 and departed after almost fully loading the oil. Iran had seized the tanker in January as a countermeasure to the US’s confiscation of the same vessel and its oil the previous year, according to Iranian state media. Iran’s foreign and oil ministries have not yet responded to requests for comment.
