Iran oil tanker likely beat US blockade, satellite tracker says

One Iranian oil tanker may have slipped through a US blockade of the Persian Gulf state’s shipping, according to TankerTrackers.com, a firm that uses satellite imagery to monitor vessel movements.

The very large crude oil carrier Huge, sailing under Iran’s flag, signalled on May 3 that it was off Bali’s coast, having not been on digital ship-tracking systems for months.

Mr Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, said that satellite imagery showed the vessel as being there too, and that it was still at an Iranian port just hours before the US blockade began on April 13.

The US Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Huge’s reappearance comes as a US-Iran stand-off over the Strait of Hormuz led to a flare-up in hostilities on May 4.

The US, which is preventing ships carrying Iranian oil from leaving the Gulf of Oman, this week started an operation to escort commercial vessels through the strait. 

US Central Command said on May 4 that US forces have redirected 50 vessels since the blockade began on April 13. 

Chabahar, a port city near the border with Pakistan that is just shy of the US blockade line, has seen more Iranian vessels cluster in nearby waters in recent days.

The US Navy had said previously that interdicted Iranian tankers were redirected to idle near Chabahar.

Mr Madani said his analysis is that Huge probably slipped the blockade, but is the only one he has observed having done so up to now. 

If just one has evaded interdiction in four weeks, it would nevertheless be a signal that the cordon is proving highly effective at preventing Iran from exporting its key commodity to the global market. 

Mr Madani said he saw an image of the ship on the morning of April 13 at Chabahar. The blockade started that afternoon. BLOOMBERG