Shipping Firms Look To Prevent Illicit Ship-To-Ship Oil Transfers

…Maersk Tankers itself almost loaded Iranian crude a few months ago after STS transfers, but those transfers were stopped before the Denmark-based tanker operating giant took any Iranian oil after a tip from U.S. nonprofit and non-partisan policy organization United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI). Maersk Tankers is using technology to track vessels and is closely investigating the ownership structures of the companies and tankers it works with, according to Reuters. The UANI organization has found that Iran alone is using dozens of tankers to hide the origin of its oil. UANI has been sending its findings to flag registries, which have also stepped up the scrutiny and conducted investigations and hearings. The registries have also banned vessels or de-flagged vessels altogether. “Between one-third to one half of Iran’s oil is exported via furtive STS transfers, loaded from Iranian to foreign tankers in the open seas, away from terrestrial tracking. It must be stopped,” UANI says.