ATHENS: 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 Turkiye when it was seized.
“The cargo was released earlier this week after negotiations,” the source said.
The cargo was transferred onto the Turkiye-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 US advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, which tracks Iran-related tanker traffic via satellite data.
T.Semahat’s Turkiye-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 US, Iranian state media had reported at the time.
Iran’s foreign and oil ministries were not immediately available to comment.
Iran releases cargo of oil tanker St. Nikolas, shipping source says
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Iran releases cargo of oil tanker St. Nikolas, shipping source says
- The cargo was transferred onto the Turkiye-flagged tanker T. Semahat earlier this week via a ship-to-ship transfer near Iran’s Larak Island
- Iran seized the tanker in January in retaliation for the confiscation last year of the same vessel and its oil by the US
El-Sisi says Egypt in ‘state of near-emergency’ as war threatens economy
- El-Sisi said “the current crisis might have some repercussions on prices“
- He said Egypt was attempting “sincere and honest mediation efforts to stop the war”
CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said Thursday his country was in an economic “state of near-emergency” as a result of the Middle East war, warning of runaway inflation.
The Arab world’s most populous nation has not been physically impacted by the US and Israeli war with Iran, which has seen strikes on Egypt’s wealthy Gulf allies and paralyzed trade through the vital Strait of Hormuz.
But by the close of business Thursday, the Egyptian pound had fallen to an eight-month low against the US dollar, trading at 50.2 to the USD amid reports of short-term investment outflows.
Egypt’s import-dependent economy has proven highly sensitive to fluctuations in the currency, which has lost two-thirds of its value since 2022.
At a military academy event, El-Sisi said “the current crisis might have some repercussions on prices,” warning that price-gouging traders could be tried “in military courts,” according to a statement from his spokesman.
Over the weekend, El-Sisi had warned the war could spell trouble for the Suez Canal, the region’s other vital waterway besides the Strait of Hormuz and a key source of foreign currency for Egypt.
Major shipping companies have already directed traffic away from the region, rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope off the tip of southern Africa.
El-Sisi said Thursday that Egypt was attempting “sincere and honest mediation efforts to stop the war, as its continuation will have a hefty toll.”
Cairo has in the past hosted nuclear talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and is a guarantor of the US-brokered Gaza peace deal between Israel and Hamas.
But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday his country was “not asking for a ceasefire” or negotiations with the US.
