Iran seizes foreign tanker in Gulf of Oman over alleged fuel smuggling

Iranian judicial authorities have said they had impounded a foreign-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman and detained all 18 crew members on charges of “carrying 5mn litres of smuggled diesel,” local media reported on December 14.

The tanker of unknown origin was intercepted on December 12 in the Gulf of Oman, south of Iran, and was allegedly en route to a market outside the region. Smuggled fuel has become a significant issue for Iranian fuel producers due to the collapse of the rial over the past few years, now trading at the lowest ever rate against the US dollar on December 14

All crew members, including the ship’s captain, were detained and are being held “to complete the investigation process and legal procedures”, according to Tasnim News Agency.

Mojtaba Ghahremani, head of the judiciary in Hormozgan province, said the foreign tanker was stopped and inspected west of Jask in waters under Iran’s jurisdiction.

He did not name the country that owned the vessel but said it was seized due to “multiple maritime violations” and deficiencies in the legal documentation for its cargo.

Ghahremani said the tanker was travelling “without maritime documents related to the voyage and the fuel cargo manifest” and had “all its navigation and auxiliary navigation systems switched off.”

He said the tanker had committed offences including “organised transport of smuggled fuel”, ignoring stop orders issued by officers, attempting to flee, lacking maritime and cargo documents, switching off radar systems and deliberately damaging the tanker’s equipment during the seizure.

The official said an order had been issued to unload its cargo, he added that Iran seized the ship as part of Iran’s efforts “to combat fuel smuggling ringleaders”.

Iran has a record of seizing vessels in the Persian Gulf, most often accusing them of transporting smuggled fuel. In recent days, alongside rising petrol prices in Iran, authorities have reported the seizure of at least two other vessels on charges of fuel smuggling.

On November 30, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had seized a ship flying the Eswatini flag in the Persian Gulf and detained its 13 crew members.

Also, a day earlier, Ali Salimi-Zadeh, prosecutor of Kish Island, said that two vessels carrying 80,000 litres of smuggled fuel had been detained in Iranian waters.

The United States seized a sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean before Iran's move, marking a potential escalation in enforcement against Venezuela's and Iran's shadowy shipping network, which TankertTrackers.com previously reported at more than 600 ships of varying sizes, including VLCCs.

The seizure of the vessel, known as the Skipper, represents "an entirely different category of risk than falsifying paperwork and bank fines", raising operational costs for companies willing to breach sanctions, according to Claire Jungman, director of maritime risk and intelligence at oil analytics firm Vortexa.

"The cost of doing business with Venezuela just went way up. These are very risk-tolerant operators, but even they don't want to lose a hull. A physical seizure is an entirely different category of risk," Jungman said.

The US sanctioned the vessel in November 2022, when it was known as the M/T Adisa, for its alleged role in a network of dark vessels smuggling crude for Iran. The network was reportedly run by a Switzerland-based Ukrainian oil trader who was also sanctioned, the US Treasury Department said.