Iran Renames, Reflags Seized Tanker As It Prepares To Leave Gibraltar

August 16, 2019

Publication: 

Radio Free Europe

Related Country: 

  • United Kingdom

An Iranian tanker detained in Gibraltar was freed after local authorities received written assurances from Iran that the ship would not unload its cargo in Syria. The ship, originally named Grace 1 and flying under a Panama flag, was detained on July 4 on charges that it was shipping oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions. Deputy head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization Jalil Eslami said that the ship will now fly under an Iranian flag and be renamed Adrian Darya, adding that it was of Russian origin and carrying two million barrels of Iranian oil. The United States, which accused the tanker of assisting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said that the 28-member crew—reportedly Indian, Pakistani, and Ukrainian nationals—could be subject to a visa ban.