The owner of a VLCC held for months by Nigeria had no option but to pay $15m to end the “prolonged and wrongful” detention, its insurer said.

The 300,000-dwt Heroic Idun (built 2020) is due to arrive in Cape Town, South Africa next week to allow the 26 crew members to return home after being held for more than nine months on piracy and oil smuggling charges.