Iran released the Vietnamese tanker Sothys that it had detained, after offloading the oil on the vessel before being allowed to depart.
Namely, Associated Press first reported that the tanker’s AIS data was showing it underway leaving from the Iranian southern port of Bandar Abbas on November 9.
More specifically, the tanker was traveling light and anchored south of the Strait of Hormuz with its AIS set to “waiting for instructions.”
The incident took plac elast week when U.S. officials denied reports that the U.S. had attempted to seize the tanker while in international waters in the Gulf of Oman.
However, Iran accused the US of attempting to “steal the oil” aboard the tanker.
On the other hand, Pham Thu Hang, deputy spokeswoman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Vietnam expressed concern for the safety of the 26 members of the crew aboard the tanker.
Now, Vietnam has started diplomatic outreach to Iran seeking the identity of the crewmembers and to enable the release of the vessel. On October 27, they reported that the captain of the vessel had spoken with their embassy reporting that the crew was in good health and being treated fairly.
Furthermore, U.S. officials asserted that the U.S. Navy observed the Iranian action surrounding the tanker but had not attempted to seize the oil.