June 2022 Iran Tanker Tracking

In a welcome move on June 16, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned three major Iranian petrochemical producers, Marun Petrochemical, Kharg Petrochemical, and Fanavaran Petrochemical, for having supplied tens of millions of dollars’ worth of petrochemicals to the sanctioned Chinese company, Triliance. At the same time, Treasury also sanctioned six front and shipping companies based in Hong Kong and in the UAE (Keen Well, Teamford, GX Shipping, Future Gate, Sky Zone, and YouChem) for facilitating Iranian petrochemical trades to Triliance. 

These nine sanctioned entities are not only connected to Iran’s petrochemical industry. They are also linked to vessels suspected of having transported Iranian crude oil and gas condensates. For instance, Youchem is a UAE-based company listed for having “concealed Triliance’s involvement in petrochemical transactions and received payments on behalf of Trio Energy DMCC, an OFAC-designated Triliance front company.” As IHS Maritime notes, the Panama-flagged chemical/products tanker LEONID (IMO: 9198771) was owned for a short period by Youchem between June 10 and July 1, 2020. Given that this vessel continues to trade Iranian oil regularly, UANI strongly suspects that the current owners of this vessel are connected to Iran. The U.S. did not sanction LEONID, however. Similarly, the Administration did not sanction any vessels connected to the IRGC-QF oil smuggling network last month, which means the regime can keep exporting oil with ease. These same ships are docking at ports worldwide, engaging in ship-to-ship transfers with other charterers, and benefiting from the suite of other services within the maritime industry.

Their ability to travel is helping Iran to continue exporting over 1 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) for the month of June, with the majority going to China:

View Iran Tanker Tracking

FSO Tankers at Tanjung Pelepas Provide Life Line to Iranian Regime

Another way the Iranian regime has been able to avoid sanctions on selling its oil is through the so-called blending and rebranding. In February 2022, UANI revealed that the Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker SUEZ RAJAN (IMO:9524475) engaged in a STS transfer with the Marshall Islands-flagged floating storage and offloading (“FSO”) vessel CS BRILLIANCE (IMO: 9153513) on February 506, 2022 before engaging in a STS transfer of Iranian oil with the Panama-flagged crude oil tanker VIRGO (IMO: 9236250). As a result of the STS with CS BRILLIANCE, the SUEZ RAJAN attempted to claim the oil it took from VIRGO was a ‘Malaysian-blend.’ This, however, was not the first time UANI has caught FSOs at Tanjung Pelepas assisting the Iranian regime. Since August 2021, UANI has tracked nine different vessels anchored at Tanjung Pelepas involved in shipments of Iranian oil. These FSOs have the capability to store and offload oil and gas, and Iran delivers its oil to these tankers so it can be blended, rebranded, and then exported as a Malaysian blend.

Similar to the SUEZ RAJAN, the Panama-flagged tanker ARC 1 (IMO: 9268112), which spent most of June floating in the Adriatic Sea laden with what is suspected to be Iranian oil, also engaged in an STS transfer with an FSO at Tanjung Pelepas before departing for Croatia. In ARC 1’s case, the FSO that assisted with this rebranding was the Marshall Islands-flagged CS PROSPERITY (IMO: 9169691).

The other FSO tankers suspected of having been involved in this sanction’s evasions scheme since August 2021 include SA HORIZON (IMO: 9233272), COSGREAT LAKE (IMO: 9263215), CS DEVELOPMENT (IMO: 9133850), SA CAPRICORN (IMO: 9230878), EM LONGEVITY (IMO: 9212864), HARMONY STAR (IMO: 9244623) and NEW GLOBAL (IMO: 9235244). These tankers appear to be connected to a wider smuggling network and, as a result, have allowed Iran to accumulate billions of dollars because of the oil being rebranded. This network needs to be seriously investigated, and UANI strongly encourages the maritime industry to crack down on the tankers involved.