By Weilun Soon
Feb 7, 2025 (Bloomberg) –President Donald Trump’s maiden sanctions package targeting a handful of vessels carrying Iranian oil stopped short of the “maximum pressure” campaign his administration had pledged, according to shippers and analysts.
The move, announced Thursday, affected one very-large crude carrier and two Aframaxes that the Treasury Department said helped move Iranian oil to China. It also targeted several entities and individuals across different countries that were involved in the trade, which was on behalf of Tehran’s Armed Forces General Staff and its sanctioned front company, Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars.
In the days leading up to Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, shipping executives and oil traders had been nervous about a potential big sanctions package aimed at crippling Tehran, given how vocal he was against the Islamic Republic during his first term.
They were worried that such measures would cause even bigger disruptions to supply chains that had already been thrown into disarray after the Biden administration’s aggressive moves against Russia in early January. The former president had also targeted the Iran-China oil trade with three rounds of sanctions late last year.
But market nerves have been soothed somewhat in recent days, with Trump appearing to soften his stance on Iran, saying that he wants to work on a new nuclear deal that allows the country to “peacefully grow and prosper.”
The measures announced Thursday are similar to the sanctions imposed in recent years under the Biden administration, which didn’t materially impact Iran’s oil exports, said Junjie Ting, a shipping analyst at Oil Brokerage Ltd. “It is a warning shot.”
The newly sanctioned trio of vessels include the CH Billion, a 21-year-old Aframax that flies under Panama’s flag. In 2024, it took on more than 700,000 barrels of Iranian crude from a Tehran-owned tanker in waters off Singapore that have been known to host ship-to-ship transfers. The vessel was also used to ferry barrels from Russia’s Pacific port of Kozmino. The fleet involved in that trade was heavily sanctioned last month.
The two other affected tankers were Panama-flagged Gioiosa and Hong Kong-flagged Star Forest.
Separately, Comoros-flagged tanker Siri was also singled out in the latest statement. According to the Treasury, the already-sanctioned vessel has been operating under a disguise after its Iranian owner falsified documents and physically hid its name to conceal its identity and pass it off as a different tanker called New Prime.
© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.
Join the 108,903 members that receive our newsletter.
Have a news tip? Let us know.
China hasn’t imported liquefied natural gas from the US for 40 days, the longest gap in almost two years, as traders are forced to divert shipments elsewhere to avoid Beijing’s tariffs on the super-chilled fuel.
A ship carrying Russian crude transferred from three smaller tankers that are under U.S. sanctions unloaded last week at a Chinese port, shiptracking data shows, ending an unusual month-long voyage highlighting the efforts of producers and traders to keep Moscow's oil flowing despite tightened curbs.
Alaskan state representatives will visit Japan this month to court investors for a natural gas project President Donald Trump says could pump trillions of dollars into the U.S., but Japanese energy firms remain skeptical of the project's feasibility.
Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 108,903 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up
Join The Club
