UK Tanker Seized in July Leaves Bandar Abbas

The UK-flagged Stena Impero tanker, which had been detained by Iranian forces in July, left the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on Friday after the completion of legal steps for its release. 
The Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran in Hormozgan Province said in a statement that the ship moved from Bandar Abbas at 9 a.m. local time.
It said the judicial file on the vessel remained open and the process of looking into violations by the ship was ongoing, ISNA reported.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry had said on Wednesday that the detention order had been lifted, but the case was not closed yet and the investigation would continue.
Stena Impero was seized by Iran’s Revolution Guards Corps naval forces on July 19 in the Strait of Hormuz over maritime violations.
“The ship is on the move,” Erik Hanell, the chief executive of Sweden’s Stena Bulk, the ship’s owner, confirmed in a talk with Reuters.
Stena Bulk said the ship was heading to Dubai in the UAE, on the opposite side of the Persian Gulf, where the crew would receive medical checks and a debriefing.
Iran had released seven of the ship’s 23 crew earlier this month.