A sanctioned Iranian tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas got past the U.S. naval blockade and delivered its cargo to China, according to United Against Nuclear Iran. The group says the blockade is still holding on crude shipments.
A sanctioned Iranian tanker carrying about 500,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas slipped past the U.S. naval blockade and delivered its cargo to China, according to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI). The group says it filmed the ship at a Malaysian anchorage along the way.
How the SOGL reached China
The vessel, the SOGL, loaded Iranian LPG at Assaluyeh Port in late August and got past the blockade on Sept. 1, UANI told Fox News. UANI says it then chartered a supply boat and ran about 100 nautical miles out to the EOPL anchorage off Malaysia on Sept. 16, where it filmed the SOGL taking on fuel and services.
The tanker then sailed north into the South China Sea and discharged at Xinzhou Port in China. On Oct. 8, three weeks after UANI filmed it, the Treasury Department sanctioned it as one of 17 shadow fleet vessels.
UANI tracks LPG and crude tankers since July
Since the blockade was reinstated in July, UANI wrote in its Oct. 29 shipping update that only around nine small tankers carrying Iranian LPG have successfully passed the blockade line. On crude oil, however, the group says it hasn't tracked a single tanker laden with Iranian crude that avoided U.S. enforcement since July 12.
UANI also says the DANDELION is likely attempting to breach the blockade, laden with 490,000 barrels of Iranian LPG, taken on in a ship-to-ship transfer off Shinas, Oman, on Oct. 26.
Tankers sit along Iran's coast
UANI counts at least 53 tankers laden with Iranian oil, mostly crude, sitting along Iran's coast. Only eight of the 52 loadings it has tracked since July 14 came from Kharg Island, Iran's main crude terminal.
China now takes almost 100% of Iran's oil and LPG exports, Shelley said, up from about 80% of Iran's liquid cargo exports in earlier years. Shelley also said Malaysian authorities appear to be looking the other way at the EOPL anchorage.
Source: Oilprice.com
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