British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, which had been held off the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas for more than two months, set sail and reached international waters Friday (September 27th), its Swedish owner said.
"She reached international waters about 15 minutes ago," Erik Hanell, CEO of the company that owns the vessel, Stena Bulk, told AFP at noon Friday, adding that the ship was heading for Dubai.
After the ship had left Iran and reached international waters on Friday, Hanell said it was "obviously a relief" and added that the priority now was the crew.
"When we reach Dubai we will firstly take care of the crew and then try and get the ship in operational order again," he said.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) seized the tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19th after surrounding the vessel with attack boats and rappelling onto its deck.
Seven of its 23 crew members were released on September 4th.
Tensions in the Gulf have soared since May due to Iran's escalating campaign of unprofessional interactions that appear to be intended to provoke an international response.
