Seizure of Oil Tanker Involved in 'Iranian Oil Transfer' Following Collision with Singaporean Vessel

The Malaysian Coast Guard reported the seizure of the oil tanker 'Ceres 1' following a collision with a Singaporean tanker and its subsequent escape from the accident site. Zainal Zaman Mohd Yunos, the commander of the search and rescue section of the Malaysian Coast Guard, announced on Sunday, July 31, that the 'Ceres 1' tanker was seized along with its two tugboats. The Singaporean government announced on Friday that this massive tanker had collided with a smaller Singaporean tanker while its automatic identification system was turned off and fled the scene of the accident while keeping the system disabled. The Singaporean tanker 'Hafnia Nile,' carrying 300,000 barrels of naphtha, also caught fire after the incident. Reuters reported, citing informed sources, that the 'Ceres 1' tanker was last known to be carrying Iranian oil; however, information received by Radio Farda indicates that although this tanker has played a role in transferring Iranian oil, it did not have an oil cargo at the time of the accident. The energy consulting company 'Vortexa,' which tracks tankers, stated that the Chinese 'Ceres 1' was empty at the time of the incident. Claire Jungman, the head of tanker tracking at the 'United Against a Nuclear Iran' organization, also confirmed that this massive tanker was empty during the collision with the Singaporean vessel, but it is part of the so-called 'ghost fleet' involved in smuggling oil from Iran, Venezuela, and Russia. Information received by Radio Farda shows that this tanker carried two million barrels of Iranian oil in March and has kept its identification system disabled since then to avoid detection. It is not clear when this tanker offloaded its oil cargo to another tanker. This massive 23-year-old tanker is also not listed under the insurance of any reputable maritime insurance companies worldwide. Ms. Jungman stated that the mentioned tanker, which sails under the flag of the African country of Sao Tome and Principe, has smuggled at least eight million barrels of Iranian oil since 2019. Iran denied any connection with the damaged tankers off the coast of Singapore. The Iranian Ministry of Oil claimed yesterday that none of the damaged tankers off the coast of Singapore were related to Iran. It is estimated that over 850 tankers secretly transport oil from countries like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela in international waters, with the primary destination for these tankers being China. Almost half of this fleet is engaged in smuggling Iranian oil. These tankers attempt to hide from ship tracking radars by turning off their automatic identification systems; however, this increases the risk of collisions with other vessels. The German insurance company 'Allianz' reported that more than 50 accidents in the ghost fleet have been recorded due to the automatic identification system being turned off. Data from Vortexa indicates that Iran exported approximately 1.6 million barrels of oil to China daily in the first half of this year, accounting for over 95% of Iran's total oil exports. More than half of Iran's exported oil is rebranded in Malaysian or Singaporean waters and sent to China under the name of other countries.