Third master hit with US sanctions over ‘Houthi-linked oil shipments’

"The US sanctioned a Ukrainian captain and his United Arab Emirates-operated tanker on Monday over his alleged role in oil cargoes to fund Houthi weapon purchases for attacks on commercial shipping. Vyacheslav Salyga, 52, was in charge of the 105,900-dwt Otaria (built 2000) when it loaded commodities on behalf of a shipping network run by an alleged Houthi financier, according to the US sanctions regulator. Salyga is the third master to be targeted this month by Washington linked to the alleged sale of sanctioned Iranian cargoes. Two Indians were blacklisted last week. […] Campaign group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) identified the Otaria, previously named Gala and Winsome, as being involved in the trade in Iranian oil since 2020. […] UANI believes it spotted the Winsome later that year via satellite imagery south of the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas."