Iranian Oil Sales Continue Despite Blockade in Malaysian Waters
On Saturday last week, the Iranian oil tanker Humanity sailed through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore before veering northeast towards the coast of Malaysia, where it suddenly turned off its automatic identification system (AIS). Satellite tracking data showed the 330-metre (1,083ft) crude oil tanker had arrived at the Eastern Outer Port Limits (EOPL) of Malaysia, a 1,200-square-kilometre (463-square-mile) expanse of water in the South China Sea about 70km (43 miles) off the shore.
Maritime security experts say the Humanity likely went “dark” as it was preparing to offload its cargo of Iranian oil in a ship-to-ship transfer to a waiting middleman. They say the cargo’s ultimate destination is likely China, which historically buys about 90 percent of Iran’s crude oil exports, according to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
Shadow Fleet Grows to 600 Vessels, World Bank Reports
Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime security monitoring project affiliated with Stanford University, told Al Jazeera he has observed 62 ships broadcasting false or decommissioned ship identities since the start of the year while moving between the Gulf, the EOPL, Hong Kong and then onto northern China. These ships are part of a network of middlemen who facilitate the sale of Iranian oil to China’s independent “teapot” oil refineries, according to Erica Downs, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.
Malaysia’s EEZ: A Grey Area for Sanctions Compliance
The anchorage area off Malaysia’s EOPL area is “just as busy as it has ever been,” said Charlie Brown, a maritime security expert and director of Southeast Asia Regional Programs at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS). The EOPL offers the advantage of calm waters that are close enough to reach suppliers in Singapore and Malaysia but far enough to make the area a historically grey legal one. However, Kuala Lumpur has moved to strengthen its legal toolkit. In June, Malaysia amended its Exclusive Economic Zone Act to crack down on illegal anchoring, resupplying or “bunkering”, and ship-to-ship cargo transfers conducted in its EEZ without government approval.
Sanctions Evasion: A Complex Web of Ship-to-Ship Transfers
Satellite data reviewed by Al Jazeera on Thursday showed that over the past month, 18 Iranian-flagged oil tankers, including the Humanity, arrived in the EOPL before going “dark”. Another Iranian oil tanker, the Dore, could be seen conducting ship-to-ship transfers with other vessels. These ships are part of a network of middlemen who facilitate the sale of Iranian oil to China’s independent “teapot” oil refineries, according to Erica Downs. Despite the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and international sanctions against Iran, these ship-to-ship transfers continue to evade detection.
Original Article: In the waters off Malaysia, Iranian oil sales continue despite blockade — Aljazeera