August 2020 Iran Tanker Tracking

September 8, 2020 | Claire Jungman and Daniel Roth

Last month the U.S. announced the successful disruption of a multimillion-dollar fuel shipment by Iran’s IRGC terrorist organization bound for Venezuela. Iranian oil totaling 1.116 million barrels on board four foreign-flagged vessels, the Bella, the Bering, the Pandi, the Luna, is now in U.S. custody. This unparalleled action is the biggest ever seizure of fuel shipments from Iran.

With ever-increasing enforcement, observed outflows of Iranian crude oil and condensates unsurprisingly fell to 198k barrels per day, the lowest monthly export figure since February 2020 (Bloomberg). Of these, UANI saw Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) engaging in multiple ship-to-ship (STS) oil transfers in ongoing efforts to obscure origin, evade monitoring and -- since August -- skirt physical seizure.

On August 2, NITC tanker Masal engaged in a STS transfer with the Russian-flagged vessel Lady M, northwest of Kharg Island, Iran. One week later, between August 8-10, another NITC vessel engaged in a STS with an unidentified Handymax-sized tanker north of Kharg Island. The same Iranian tanker engaged in a STS on August 12 and August 19. This Sentinel Hub image, blurred but visible, shows the two vessels in question side by side:

(Source: Sentinel Hub)

Finally, on August 22, Iranian tanker Argo I engaged in an STS with the Gabon-flagged vessel Balder. A gap in Balder’s AIS data confirms that its transponder was turned off from August 20-August 23 when it engaged in the transfer with Argo I.

(Source: MarineTraffic)

Other NITC movements in August included:

  • VLCC Dorena appeared in the Strait of Malacca on August 13 with a draft indicating it was fully laden. Dorena was last seen east on Singapore on August 14, indicating its destination as China.
  • Suezmax Samah appeared in the Red Sea on August 13 with a draft indicating it was fully laden. We spotted Samah anchored at Baniyas, Syria, on August 21, still indicating she was fully laden.

Image

(Source: Sentinel Hub)

  • Suezmax Sobar appeared in the Strait of Malacca on August 14, with a draft indicating it was fully laden. Sobar was last seen east of Singapore on August 15, indicating its destination as China.
  • VLCC Diona appeared in the Strait of Malacca on August 28 with a draft indicating it was fully laden. Diona was last seen off China’s Shandong Province on September 1.

With each passing month, Iran will find it increasingly difficult to export its oil due to U.S. efforts, which are now being progressively complemented by the rest of the world’s maritime community. The U.K. is the second major national maritime jurisdiction to focus on global shipping malpractice with the publication of new guidance in August by the Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.  Other national authorities will inevitably follow. Together with rapid improvements in tracking technology, Iran’s window for successful oil export is narrowing.