Iran provided more than $200 million to pay off in full the mortgages on the three container ships—Tuchal, Sabalan and Sahand—owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), a state-owned firm.
The Straits Times of Singapore reported that Singapore Justice Quentin Loh freed the three ships last Wednesday but added that Iran would have to reimburse the Singapore Sheriff for the cost of storing the ships off Singapore for almost four months while the debt issued was resolved. A separate hearing is to be held to set that figure.
The seizure of the ships is a result of the slowly rising level of sanctions against Iran. Under EU sanctions, all major global marine insurers have stopped insuring Iranian ships. When IRISL lost its insurance, it turned to an Iranian insurance firm, which is now under American sanctions.
The European and Korean banks that held the mortgages on the three ships did not accept the insurance of the Iranian firm and called in the notes on the vessels last summer. When Iran did not pay up, the banks went into court and had the three ships impounded by Singapore in September.
It still took IRISL four months to pay up.