Chinese VLCC involved in fiery South China Sea collision does a disappearing act, say Malaysian authorities

"'IT IS no secret that tankers engaged in sanctions trades are masters at deceptive shipping practices, from manipulation of Automatic Identification System signals to document forgery. Those that end up under US sanctions usually double down on their manipulation of AIS, which makes tracking their activity — and the impact of sanctions — all the trickier. What is clear though is that while sanctions raise cumbersome obstacles for tankers, they are not a kiss of death for their commercial endeavours. Lloyd’s List tracked 11 tankers sanctioned by the US for Iran links between January and March and found the majority disappeared, manipulating their locations. Some hoisted false flags to continue trading. Seven of the trackedtankers have emitted false location data via AIS since being designated. 'Sanctions can effectively immobilise vessels by restricting their access to ports, insurance, and international shipping services,' explained Claire Jungman, chief of staff at US lobbying group United Against Nuclear Iran, who tracks Iran’s oil flows."