Will US Seize Iran's Grace I? Tanker Heads To Greece From Gibraltar

The Iranian tanker whose detention sparked a long stand-off between Tehran and the West has sailed through the Mediterranean Sea towards Greece, after a last-minute effort by the U.S. to seize the ship went in vain.

The supertanker Grace 1, renamed as Adrian Darya 1, which was carrying light crude oil worth $130 million has lifted its anchor from Gibraltar and set sail for Greece, according to GPS data on Marinetraffic.com.

Gibraltar on Sunday rejected the U.S. warrant to hold the ship over violations of U.S. sanctions, money laundering and terrorism statutes, as it was bound by the European Union law. While the U.S. has placed sanctions on oil exports carried out by Iran, which involves heavy penalties on all types of breaches, the EU regulations allow Iran to trade oil with countries in the bloc.

The U.S. attempt to seize the Iranian vessel carrying 2.1 million barrels of oil comes at a time when tensions between Tehran and west have been on the rise. President Donald Trump had in May, last year pulled out of a nuclear deal with Iran which was signed in 2015. Considering the hostile situations between the nations, there is a plausible chance that the U.S. may still try to seize the ship in international waters.

On being questioned if such an attempt was possible, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Abbas Mousavi said, “Such an action, and even the talk of it ... would endanger shipping safety in open seas.” Iran added that any attempt made by the U.S to seize the Iranian tanker, which was released from Gibraltar after four weeks of detention, would have dire consequences.

The vessel is scheduled to arrive at 0000 GMT next Sunday at Kalamata, Greece, Reuters reported. The vessel steered east through a narrow strip of international water between Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula, after coming south from Gibraltar.

Grace 1 was detained by the British overseas territory as it was suspected of breaching European sanctions on Syria.

“As far as Europe is concerned, and it’s common ground, there’s been no criticism or complaints that this vessel is carrying oil from Iran, the only problem from the European point of view was the destination of the vessel and that has been sorted,” Richard Wilkinson, a lawyer who represented the crew members of Grace 1 said.

The Iranian government assured Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, that the ship would not be unloading its cargo in Syria. The authorities in Gibraltar lifted the detention on Thursday, but the U.S. had made a last-minute ditch effort to seize the vessel from Gibraltar. As of Sunday, Grace 1 was renamed to Adrian Darya 1 and it had hoisted an Iranian flag.