VIDEO: Marines board containership as Iran blockade continues
Written by Nick Blenkey
Screengrab from YouTube videp
Yesterday, U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded M/V Blue Star III, a commercial ship suspected of attempting to transit to Iran in violation of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, in the Arabian Sea. CENTCOM reports that U.S. forces released the vessel after conducting a search and confirming the ship’s voyage would not include an Iranian port call.
The Blue Star III, built in 1995, is a 215 TEU containership that flies the Cormoros flag and that has been through various flag and name changes. Ownership and management details are murky, All of which may have led to the decision to inspect the vessel as the blockade intensifies.
According to Windward AI, the U.S. blockade has halved Iranian crude shipments to Asia in just 10 days. No VLCC has cleared the Strait of Malacca since April 24, the primary visibility point for the dark fleet.
With 153M barrels of Iranian oil now in floating storage and Hormuz traffic below earlier peaks, says Windward, crude shipments are facing severe disruption.
- More from Windward HERE
