A U.S. Treasury official warned of environmental risks from illicit transfers of Iranian oil off Malaysia. This was reported by news portal Malaysiakini on 9 May 2024. The United States sees Iran's capacity to move its oil as being reliant on service providers based in Malaysia.
The official also said the United States was attempting to prevent Malaysia from becoming a jurisdiction where the Palestinian militant group Hamas could raise and transfer funds. The main ways Iran raised money was through the sale of illicit oil to buyers in East Asia.
Source: The Maritime Executive
Malaysian officials in October 2023 reported that they have detained two tankers suspected of conducting an illegal ship-to-ship oil transfer. The not-for-profit group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) posted online citing the vessels in an October 2023 report.
UANI identified the two tankers that MMEA had only said were registered in Panama and Honduras. The larger of the two vessels is the Artemis III, registered in Honduras and managed by companies in China. Built in 1996, she is a 300,360 dwt VLCC. The vessel’s AIS signal shows that she has been in the area since late August.
The other vessel involved in the transfer, the Ocean Hermana is registered in Panama and managed from India. Built in 2004, she is 159,100 dwt. The ships were being investigated for undertaking the transfer without a permit and for anchoring without permission. In Malaysia, those crimes could result in a fine of approximately $20,900 and imprisonment of up to two years. In addition, the captains of both tankers are also being investigated for obstructing the efforts of the MMEA. That would also result in jail sentences of up to two years and a fine of approximately $2,000.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Prime Minister said recently there was "not one shred of evidence" of ship-to-ship transfers of sanctioned Iranian oil off Malaysia. This is amid U.S. concern that Iran was using Malaysian service providers to move its oil. It is either the PM is wholly ignorant or providing a classic disinformation. Which is it dear PM? Do you understand the consequences? Our output of oil cannot just spike from 600k barrels per day to 3 million barrels per day!
References:
US flags environmental risks from illicit transfers of Iranian oil off Malaysia, report says, Reuters, 9 May 2024
Malaysia detains two tankers accused of trading Iranian oil, The Maritime Executive, 26 October 2023
Malaysia PM says no evidence of ship-to-ship transfer of Iranian oil off Malaysia, Reuters, 14 May 2024
No comments:
Post a Comment