Chinese Ships helping Iran smuggle out oil

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dan_s
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Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 8:22 am

Chinese Ships helping Iran smuggle out oil

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SINGAPORE (Reuters) - About one-third of the oil tankers owned by COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) have shut off their ship-tracking transponders since the United States imposed sanctions on the company for allegedly shipping Iranian crude, shipping data showed.

From Sept. 30 to Oct. 7, a total of 14 COSCO Dalian ships, six of which carry some oil, stopped sending location data from their automatic identification system (AIS), ship tracking data on Refinitiv Eikon showed. The U.S. imposed the sanctions on Sept. 25.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires AIS transceivers be fitted to commercial and passenger vessels for safety and transparency purposes. The devices can be turned off manually by a ship’s crew for legitimate reasons such as avoiding detection in piracy or high-risk zones.

However, the transponders are often shut off to conceal a ship’s location when illicit activities occur.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran ... SKBN1WO0RA
Dan Steffens
Energy Prospectus Group
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