Corn ship reaches Iran after crossing US blockade line
Investing.com -- A grain vessel carrying corn to Iran has entered the Persian Gulf after crossing the US blockade line outside the Strait of Hormuz, marking a development ahead of a planned US-Iran interim peace agreement to reopen the waterway.
The Verbier, a Panamax bulk carrier with a capacity of approximately 70,000 tons of dry bulk cargo, is transporting corn to Bandar Imam Khomeini in Iran, according to vessel-tracking data from Bloomberg and Kpler.
Previously, Iran-linked vessels approaching the blockade line have been turned back, boarded, or disabled by the US Navy. The Verbier may have encountered such action on June 7, when it traveled through the Red Sea to the coast of Oman before making an abrupt u-turn toward India. The ship began heading back toward the Persian Gulf two days later.
The vessel was last detected on June 12 outside the Strait of Hormuz before disappearing from tracking systems. It reappeared today inside the Persian Gulf.
A second grain-carrying Panamax bulk carrier, the Kmax Evdokia, is transporting corn from Argentina and Brazil and is currently moored at Zayed port in Abu Dhabi. This vessel was last detected on June 13 outside the Strait before disappearing from public tracking systems. It reappeared on June 16 off the western coast of the UAE.
Iranian media reported on Tuesday that the US blockade of Iranian ports, which started in mid-April, is being lifted.
