(Bloomberg) — Sekavin SA, a Greek fuel supplier, said it’s investigating the origin of a cargo aboard an Iranian tanker off the Mediterranean island of Syros, amid a European Union ban on purchases from the Middle East nation.
The Baikal arrived at the Greek island yesterday and has the capacity to carry about 1 million barrels of oil or refined products, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. The cargo of ship fuel hasn’t been unloaded, Sekavin Operation Manager Yannis Spyridakis said by phone today. The vessel is flying the Tanzanian flag, he said.
NITC, a Tehran-based tanker operator, controls the ship and says the company is owned by Iranian pension funds, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The 27-nation EU banned imports of Iran’s oil and refined products in July. The EU and U.S. have tightened sanctions, saying the country’s nuclear program is aimed at producing nuclear weapons, a charge Iran has denied.
Habib-ullah Seyedan, NITC’s commercial director, declined to comment by phone today and said the company’s operations manager was not available for comment.
The Baikal arrived in Greece having been off the coast of Morocco as recently as Nov. 11, the ship-tracking data show.
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Iran’s oil exports slipped modestly in January, but the data points to durability rather than decline. A mature dark fleet ecosystem continues to move crude through opaque networks, with activity increasingly concentrated in Malaysian waters even as U.S. sanctions enforcement expands across new regions.
The United States has unveiled a sweeping new sanctions package targeting Iran’s shadow fleet, designating vessels, managers, and traders involved in illicit oil and petrochemical exports as Washington presses Tehran on multiple fronts even as nuclear talks resume.
Tsakos Energy Navigation CEO Dr. Nikos Tsakos says geopolitical turmoil and the rapid expansion of shadow tanker trading have created a severe shortage of high-quality vessels, pushing charter rates to levels rarely seen in the industry. Speaking during a recent investor presentation, Tsakos said nearly a third of the global tanker fleet has been sidelined by sanctions, leaving oil majors scrambling for compliant tonnage and reshaping global energy trade routes.
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