An Advantage Tankers suezmax seized 15 months ago by Iranian forces has finally sailed to freedom.
The Chevron-chartered 159,100-dwt Advantage Sweet (built 2012) was boarded in April last year as Iran took control of its $51m crude cargo in a series of tit-for-tat seizures involving the US.
AIS data showed the tanker left Bandar Abbas on Thursday afternoon, heading for Sohar in Oman and signalling a Friday afternoon arrival.
AP reported the vessel was en route to Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates, a common initial stop for vessels released by Iran.
The Marshall Islands-flagged suezmax was held due to an alleged collision with an Iranian ship, Iranian authorities said, but there has never been any evidence of this.
The US State Department welcomed reports that the vessel had been released and again condemned what it called the Iranian government’s unlawful action in international waters, according to a spokesperson cited by Reuters.
Iranian officials have been silent.
Advantage Tankers chief executive Togrul Tokguz told TradeWinds: “We were expecting [the ship] to be released since mid-March, after the discharge of the cargo on board by the Iranian authorities.”
“We were changing crew from time to time, so they are okay,” he added.
The CEO explained that the vessel will now continue on its interrupted charter.
News agencies said the release coincided with the conclusion of a court case that Iranian state media had linked to the tanker’s detention.
In March, an Iranian court ruled in favour of patients who had sued the US government over sanctions which they said stopped Iran from importing medicine for a rare skin disease, causing deaths and suffering, Reuters reported.
Final court order
After this, Iran said it would unload the crude cargo from the Advantage Sweet.
On Thursday, a final court order was made, ordering the US to pay $6.8bn in compensation, Iran’s Mizan news agency reported.
In May, three US insurers refused a $57m claim by oil giant Chevron over the seizure of the oil.
The Advantage Sweet is one of several vessels captured by Iranian forces in tit-for-tat battles over US sanctions that were reimposed in 2018 by former president Donald Trump.
The US said in January that Iran was holding five ships and more than 90 crew hostage from vessels seized in 2023.
Five days before the seizure of the Advantage Sweet, the US seized and later sold more than 980,000 barrels of Iranian crude on board the Greek-owned 158,600-dwt Suez Rajan (built 2011).
After this ship discharged its cargo in Texas, it returned to the Middle East under the new name of St Nikolas.
When it arrived in Oman, Iranian forces hijacked the ship and it remains in Iranian custody.
