Satellite signals suggest Vietnam ship seized by Iran freed
By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Satellite tracking data and other signals suggest a Vietnamese oil tanker earlier seized by Iran has been freed by the Islamic Republic. The Sothys left a position off Iran’s Bandar Abbas port and had reached international waters in the nearby Gulf of Oman. That’s according to data analyzed Wednesday by The Associated Press from MarineTraffic.com. Iran did not immediately acknowledge releasing the vessel. Vietnamese officials could not be reached for comment. Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard troops on Oct. 24 took control of the MV Sothys, a vessel that analysts suspect of trying to transfer sanctioned Iranian crude oil to Asia.