Iran Tanker Update – February 2020

As Iranian tankers continue to evade tracking, the observed figure for February exports to Syria was just 34,000 barrels per day. According to Bloomberg, Syria imported 53,000 bpd in the previous month of January.

In February, UANI tracked three vessels that delivered Iranian crude oil to Syria which all followed the same pattern of evasion: first the ship appears in the Suez Canal reporting its destination as Turkey or Egypt; next it “goes dark” for several days by switching off its satellite tracking as it exits the Suez Canal and enters the Mediterranean Sea; finally, some days later, the vessel switches on its transponder again and shows itself in the Suez Canal empty, having by now unloaded crude in Syrian ports.

Deliveries were completed by:

• NITC tanker SANAN appeared in the Red Sea on February 11, 2020, full with its draft at 15.5, indicating cargo was on board and signaled its destination as Mercin, Turkey. SANAN passed through the Suez Canal and disappeared from tracking west of Cyprus on February 13, still showing Mercin, Turkey, as its destination. SANAN then reappeared north of Cyprus on February 19 and entered the Suez Canal, this time with a new draft level, on February 21.

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

• Aframax SAFOORA disappeared in the Eastern Mediterranean sea on February 7 after leaving the Persian Gulf two weeks earlier on January 22. SAFOORA’s draft indicated the vessel was full with about 650,000 bbl of oil. SAFOORA reappeared off Port Said, Egypt, on February 17 and exited the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal with a lower draft, indicating a discharge of cargo.

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

Aside from deliveries to Syria, UANI also noted Iranian tanker SEVIN completing a delivery to China:

• NITC Tanker SEVIN appeared in the Strait of Malacca on February 5 with a draft indicating cargo on board. SEVIN reappeared on February 14, 2020, at Huizhou, China, where it discharged its cargo.

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

The U.S. has focused on ending Chinese purchases of Iranian oil. However, the U.S. should consider ways to prevent Syrian imports too. For example, sanctions could be imposed on captains of vessels that continue delivering oil to Syria, and the U.S. could designate previously unidentified vessels under U.S. counterterrorism provisions, as it did with the Adrian Darya 1 and its captain in August 2019.