Saudi Arabia Lets Iranian Oil Tanker Go

Saudi Arabia has finally released an Iranian oil tanker that had been stuck at the port city of Jeddah for more than 11 weeks.

Iranian oil tanker ‘Happiness 1’, belonging to the to the National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC), was forced to berth at the Saudi port of Jeddah on April 30 due to a technical failure.

The NITC said a technical problem in the oil tanker caused sea water to leak into the ship’s engine room and stall the engine when the vessel was heading towards the Suez Canal in the Red Sea.

All of the 26 crew on board the oil tanker survived the incident as the ship was taken to the nearest safe port, namely Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah.

However, the kingdom was refusing to let Happiness 1 leave Jeddah after the vessel’s technical problem was resolved. Saudi Arabia was even charging the NITC $200,000 a day for the additional costs of maintenance.

Sources have reported that the oil tanker has been released on Saturday and is returning home with the entire crew.

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