Rebecca Tan, Pei-Lin Wu and Júlia Ledur
A crude oil tanker traveling from Iran made a delivery to the Chinese port city of Ningbo a few months ago before heading back toward the Middle East. The Ceres I had made this round trip several times in the past year, according to ship-tracking data. But it didn’t complete this voyage.
The Ceres I and another tanker collided off Malaysia in the South China Sea on July 19, causing significant damage to both vessels. Malaysian authorities said the Ceres I had experienced “technical difficulties.” But shipping and energy analysts say the pattern of the vessel’s movements before the collision suggests another explanation: The Ceres I had been broadcasting a fake location on ship locator channels.
Among groups that track ship movements, the Ceres I was widely known to be part of a “dark” fleet of tankers operating outside international regulations to feed China’s appetite for sanctioned crude oil. China, the world’s biggest importer of oil, is one of the few remaining customers of crude from countries such as Iran, Venezuela and Russia, which are subject to heavy sanctions by the United States.
No comments:
Post a Comment