The Stena Impero tanker is leaving the Iranian Port of Bandar Abbas, where it had been detained for over two months amid the diplomatic row between Iran and the UK, Iran's Tasnim news agency has reported, citing data from an oil tanker tracking service.
According to the TankerTrackers oil tanker tracker service, satellite imagery appeared to show that the Stena Impero was no longer anchored at the port.
BREAKING (2019-09-24)
— TankerTrackers.com, Inc.⚓️🛢 (@TankerTrackers) September 24, 2019
This morning's satellite imagery captured by @planetlabs reveals that the #StenaImpero is NO LONGER ANCHORED at this location (27.07° N, 56.25° E). She has been there since the second week of August. We'll do our best to locate her. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/SFZ1FepVkc
We've been geolocating her over the past 2 months from every piece of footage we could find. We're confident her anchored location (yellow circle) is where she spent the most of her time. We now believe she's in the orange area, out of today's photo coverage. Pardon the graphics! pic.twitter.com/SQzKWRMw6z
— TankerTrackers.com, Inc.⚓️🛢 (@TankerTrackers) September 24, 2019
Iranian authorities have yet to confirm the authenticity of the reports. However, Iranian Ambassador to the UK Hamid Baeidinejad has said that the Stena Impero was "free to leave," having completed the judicial and legal process necessary for its release.
On Sunday, Erik Hanell, president and ceo of Stena Bulk, the shipping company which owns the Stena Impero, told reporters that he believed Iran could release the ship from custody before the end of the day. The head of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organisation in Hormozgan Province later confirmed that the ship would be released "soon."
However, as of Monday, the vessel remained in detention, with London repeating its calls on Iran to "immediately release" the ship.
Seven of the Stena Impero's 23 crew members were released earlier this month, and left Iran. The remaining crew was told to remain aboard so that the vessel could leave port after being released.
Tanker Tensions
The Stena Impero's detention helped to bring Iranian-British relations to their lowest point in decades, with London first announcing that it would create a European-led maritime coalition in the Gulf to 'ensure the security of commercial vessels', and later scrapping the idea and joining the US coalition formally tasked for the same purpose instead. Iran has denounced all measures by powers outside the Persian Gulf region to introduce warships into the region, and has called on regional powers to join forces to ensure regional security.
The Stena Impero was detained on July 19, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards accusing it of violating multiple international maritime laws, ramming into a small fishing vessel, ignoring warnings by local maritime traffic authorities, and turning off its transponder during its attempt to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. UK authorities have denied claims that the ship violated any regulations, and accused Tehran of maritime "piracy."
The "piracy" accusation followed on Iran's own claims that the UK acted like pirates would when it seized the Grace 1 (since renamed the Adrian Darya 1), a tanker laden with Iranian oil which was seized by Gibraltar authorities and British Royal Marines as its made its way through the Strait of Gibraltar on July 4. London justified that seizure, and accused the Grace 1 of attempting to ship its crude oil cargo to Syria, in contravention of European Union sanctions legislation against that war-torn country.
The Iranian ship was released by Gibraltar authorities in mid-August after local authorities said they no longer found sufficient reason to hold it. Gibraltar made the decision in defiance of a US request to continue the detention, and the issuance of a US warrant to seize the ship. Last week, Iranian authorities reported the Adrian Darya 1 had made it to its destination off the eastern coast of the Mediterranean and sold its oil, but did not specify the buyer country.
Throughout the tanker crisis between Iran and the UK, both countries have maintained that the seizures of one another's ships were in no way related or similar, and accused one another of illegal activity.
