DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – A South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars held in Seoul was freed and sailed away early Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal.
MarineTraffic.com data showed the MT Hankuk Chemi leaving Bandar Abbas in the early morning hours.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Iran released the tanker and its captain after seizing the vessel in January. The ministry says the Hankuk Chemi left an Iranian port at around 6 a.m. local time after completing an administrative process.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge the ship had been freed. The ship’s owner, DM Shipping Co. Ltd. of Busan, South Korea, could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Hankuk Chemi had been traveling from a petrochemicals facility in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when armed Revolutionary Guard troops stormed the vessel in January and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran.