US forces have boarded and seized a laden very large crude carrier (VLCC) in the Indian Ocean that was carrying Iranian crude in defiance of US sanctions, marking the latest enforcement action against the dark fleet moving Iranian supply to Asia-Pacific.
The 2mn bl capacity Tifani had loaded at Iran's Kharg Island terminal on 5 April and was intercepted south of the Bay of Bengal, probably on route to Malaysian waters where it had called previously. These are a regular staging area for ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of sanctioned crude. The tanker discharged at two Chinese ports last year.
"Overnight, US forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the stateless sanctioned M/T Tifani without incident in the INDOPACOM (Indo-Pacific Command) area of responsibility," US Central Command said.
"International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels," CENTCOM said, adding that the US Department of War "will continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of manoeuvre in the maritime domain."
Tifani is registered to a business in Suriname and is part of the 'dark fleet' moving sanctioned crude from Iran, Russia and Venezuela to foreign markets. The tanker is using a false flag, according to the International Maritime Organization's database at the time of interdiction.
Malaysian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters off the east coast of Johor have emerged as a key hub for STS transfers of Iranian crude, with dark fleet tankers frequently used to obscure the origin of cargoes before onward delivery to Chinese independent refiners.
