British-flagged tanker arrives in Dubai after release from Iran
The ship was detained two months ago in a tit-for-tat escalation after Gibraltar seized an Iranian tanker
The British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero arrived in Dubai on Saturday after being held off the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas for more than two months, according to AFP.
The vessel arrived off the coast of Dubai shortly after midnight local time (2000 GMT), and halted in the busy waterway overnight according to MarineTraffic.com, a ship tracking website.
The tanker was released earlier on Friday, reaching the international waters at around 09:45 GMT, according to Eric Hanell, the CEO of the company that owns the ship.
The tanker's crew are "safe and in high spirits" and arrangements have been made for them to return to their families upon arrival in Dubai, Hannel said earlier.
"The crew will have a period of time to be with their families following 10 weeks of detainment on the vessel. Full support will be offered to the crew and families in the coming weeks to assist with their recovery," he added.
"The Stena Impero started sailing from the mooring towards the Persian Gulf's international waters as of 9:00 am (05:30 GMT) today," the Iranian Hormozgan province's maritime organization said on its website.
"Despite the vessel's clearance, its legal case is still open in Iran's courts," it added.The vessel's detention was widely seen as a tit-for-tat escalation after authorities in the British territory of Gibraltar detained an Iranian tanker on suspicion of carrying crude oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions.
Tehran has denied allegations that the incidents were related.
The Iranian Adrian Darya 1 -- formally the Grace 1 -- was released last month by Gibraltar authorities despite an 11th-hour legal appeal by the US to extend its detention.