TRACKING

Iranian Oil Tanker Pursued by U.S. Changes Listed Destination to Turkey

The tanker was seized off the coast of Gibraltar in early July.

An Iranian oil tanker pursued by the U.S. changed its destination to a port in Turkey after Greece said it wouldn’t risk its relations with the U.S. by aiding it. The crew of the oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously known as Grace 1, updated its listed destination to Mersin, Turkey, amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran. However, crews can input any destination into the Automatic Identification System, so Turkey might not be its true destination, the AP reports. Mersin is about 125 miles northwest of an oil refinery in Baniyas, Syria, where authorities claimed the tanker was heading before it was seized off the coast of Gibraltar in last month. The State Department told the AP it had “conveyed our strong position to ALL ports in the Mediterranean that should be forewarned about facilitating Grace 1.” The tanker left Gibraltar earlier this week despite a request from the U.S. to detain the ship.