United States Central Command (Centcom) says that US Marines boarded the Blue Star III merchant vessel over suspicion of “attempting to transit to Iran, in violation of the US blockade of Iranian ports”.

“US forces released the vessel after conducting a search and confirming the ship’s voyage would not include an Iranian port call,” Centcom has said on X.

It adds that since the blockade was enforced, 39 vessels have been redirected from Iranian ports.