Iranian fuel oil shipped in violation of US sanctions is unloaded in China, tracking data shows
- It was previously reported that some oil had evaded sanctions on petroleum exports by using ship-to-ship transfers involving four ships
- The unloading comes after US upped moves to choke off Iran’s oil exports by scrapping waivers granted to big buyers including China
A tanker carrying Iranian fuel oil in violation of US sanctions has unloaded the cargo into storage tanks near the Chinese city of Zhoushan, according to ship tracking data on Refinitiv Eikon.
The discharging of the nearly 130,000 tonnes of Iranian fuel oil on board the tanker Marshal Z, confirmed by a representative of the oil storage terminal, marks the end of an odyssey for the cargo that began four months ago.
Reuters reported on March 20 that some Iranian fuel oil had managed to evade the United States’ sanctions on petroleum exports by using ship-to-ship transfers involving four different ships, including the Marshal Z, and by using forged documents that masked the cargoes as originating from Iraq.
A second representative from the terminal operator, Zhoushan Jinrun Petroleum Transfer, said the cargo could not be Iranian oil, because the terminal had not received official shipments from Iran in at least the past four years. Both Jinrun representatives declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The unloading of the fuel oil comes less than two weeks after US President Donald Trump’s administration stepped up moves to choke off Iran’s oil exports by scrapping waivers it had granted to big buyers of the country’s crude oil including China.
