ALGIERS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Algeria's oil and gas company Sonatrach said that Iran on Saturday released an oil tanker owned by the company, after forcing it into Iranian territorial waters on Friday.
The company said in a statement on Saturday that Iranian authorities freed the tanker MASDAR, after a crisis-cell was set up between Algerian energy and foreign affairs ministries.
The statement added that the tanker reached its final destination namely Tanura coasts in Saudi Arabia.
Sonatrach recalled that "on Friday, July 19, 2019, at 19:30 Algerian time (1830 GMT), and while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, the tanker MESDAR was forced by the Iranian navy forces to head to their territorial waters."
According to the statement, no casualties have been reported so far.
