Southeast Asian Tanker Companies Linked To Russian Oligarch’s ‘Dark Fleet Supply Line’

Two tanker companies linked to an alleged oil smuggling operation with ties to a Russian oligarch have a history of shipping sanctioned cargoes, according to tanker tracking groups. Seven people have been charged in the US over an alleged money laundering and sanctions-busting network that is said to have shipped sanctioned Venezuelan oil to Chinese and Russian buyers, TradeWinds reported last week. US prosecutors did not name the suezmax involved in one shipment from Venezuela year but the vessel has been identified as the 159,900-dwt Melogy (built 2002), according to the Associated Press and sources. The Melogy is listed as owned by the Thang Long Gas Co, based in Hanoi, which has a fleet of three tankers, two bulkers and a cargo ship all aged between 19 and 21 years, according to shipping information service Equasis. Another of the company’s tankers, the 115,000-dwt Legend (built 2003) was identified by tanker tracker experts at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) as having carried Iranian crude in the last year.