Iran releases cargo of oil tanker St Nikolas, shipping source says (updated)

Ditas Bdy Yedek Parca Imalat ve Teknik

25/07/2024 16:12

(Adds detail on the cargo transfer to another tanker,
paragraphs 4-7)
       ATHENS, July 25 (Reuters) - Iran has released the oil
cargo of a Greek-owned, Marshall-Islands-flagged tanker it
seized in the Gulf of Oman earlier this year, a shipping source
told Reuters on Thursday. 
    The vessel, M/T St. Nikolas, is still being held by Iran,
the source added. It was laden with 1 million barrels of Iraqi
crude oil destined for Turkey when it was seized.
    "The cargo was released earlier this week after
negotiations," the source said. 
    The cargo was transferred onto the Turkey-flagged tanker T.
Semahat earlier this week via a ship-to-ship transfer near
Iran’s Larak Island, said Claire Jungman, chief of staff at U.S.
advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, which tracks
Iran-related tanker traffic via satellite data.
    T.Semahat's Turkey-based operator Ditas, which is
majority-owned by Turkish refiner Tupras, was not immediately
available for comment. 
    The vessel had the port of Fujairah in the United Arab
Emirates as its destination and was sailing away from Iran on
Thursday, LSEG shipping data showed. 
    LSEG data also showed T.Semahat had reached Larak Island
earlier on July 21 and left that area close to being fully
loaded with oil.    
    Iran seized the tanker in January in retaliation for the
confiscation last year of the same vessel and its oil by the
U.S., Iranian state media had reported at the time.
    Iran's foreign and oil ministries were not immediately
available to comment.  

 (Reporting by Renee Maltezou in Athens, Jonathan Saul in London
and Ece Toksabay in Ankara, Additional reporting Parisa Hafezi;
Editing by Mark Heinrich and David Evans)
 ((renee.maltezou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 210 3376439; Reuters
Messaging: renee.maltezou.reuters.com@reuters.net))