Update on the Movements of Iran’s Oil Tankers

After turning its AIS off in the Strait of Hormuz on June 20, on August 14, NITC Crude Oil Tanker SANAN has appeared in the Strait of Malacca with a draft at 15.8 and signaling its location as “FAR EAST FOR ORDER.” It is unusual to see this vessel in the Strait of Malacca, as historically this vessel has delivered crude oil to Syria. It is possible that SANAN will make a delivery via a “Ship-to-Ship” (“STS”) transfer, where cargo is transferred between seagoing ships positioned alongside each other, in the Strait of Malacca or will continue on to China.

(Sources: Bloomberg L.P., Mapbox, OpenStreetMap)

Iranian Suezmax tanker SABITI has returned home to Bandar Abbas after delivering Crude Oil to Syria on July 27. On July 21 SABITI appeared in the Suez Canal full with a draft at 15.9. On July 22 its AIS was turned off as it left the Suez Canal and on August 1 it reappeared near the Suez Canal, empty with a draft at 9.3. On August 2 its AIS was turned off in the Suez Canal and on August 13 it reappeared at the port of Fujairah and made its way to Bandar Abbas. As of August 14, SABITI sits at Bandar Abbas signaling its location as LARAK.

(Sources: Bloomberg L.P., Mapbox, OpenStreetMap)

               NITC tankers SONIA I and SEVIN are making their way back to Iran after completing deliveries of crude oil to China in June. SONIA I returned to Fujairah on August 12 and SEVIN is making its way back to Iran, currently in the Persian Gulf. We covered these vessels in our last blog titled “Iran’s NITC Vessels Continue Discharging Oil in China.”

(Sources: Bloomberg L.P., Mapbox, OpenStreetMap)

NITC tanker SALINA has also reappeared as a vessel of interest. SALINA made the first post-waiver delivery of Iranian crude at the Jinxi Refining and Chemical Complex in June. After completing its delivery to China, on June 23, SALINA turned off its AIS with a draft at 9.5. On July 1, SALINA reappeared near Singapore, with its draft still at 9.5 and on July 2, it turned its AIS off. On August 10, SALINA turned its AIS back on and now is full again, with a draft at 15.7.

(Sources: Bloomberg L.P., Mapbox, OpenStreetMap)

As we reported in the UANI blog from July 21, Iranian tankers have been conducting STS transfers in Malaysian waters and then continuing to China. This indicates that SALINA likely received a delivery of crude oil via STS from a vessel while in the Strait of Malacca. Tankertrackers.com has reported a similar incident in July, and noted, “this is actually normal and we’ve seen it during the waiver program; in where an Iranian tanker does delivery rounds between the Strait of Malacca and China. Meanwhile, its corresponding vessel parked in the Strait of Malacca does its own round-trip back to Iran to pick up the oil.” UANI believes the SALINA will transit back to China to complete another delivery.