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Seized Vessel Shows Wider Ties to Illicit Iranian Oil Trade Networks

The 'Horse' which has been seized last month by Indonesian authorities over a suspected ship-to-ship transfer with the Iranian tanker 'Freya' appeared to be tied to a network previously sanctioned by the U.S. for illicit Iranian oil trade. The tanker is owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) and is sanctioned by the U.S., while the 'Freya' is owned and operated by companies with ties to actors sanctioned by the U.S. for their roles in Iranian oil trade. When Indonesian authorities apprehended the vessels, both anchored in waters west of Kalimantan on Indonesian Borneo, their flags were obscured and their AIS transponders were turned off. The 'Freya' was spilling fuel amid the transfer. The 'Horse' was part of a fleet sent by Tehran last year to deliver Iranian condensate to Venezuela. The 'Freya' has delivered two cargoes to China in the past few months. She is also connected to a broader network of actors sanctioned for Iran-related petroleum trade. The sole shareholder of 'Freya'’s operator, Moonlight Shipping Pte. Ltd., lists in Singapore corporate records a Dalian, China-based address associated with subsidiaries of Chinese shipping giant COSCO, including two that were sanctioned for Iran-related oil trade. The vessel is owned by the Marshall Islands-listed company, Freya Limited, which shares an address in Singapore with the vessel’s operator, Moonlight Shipping Pte. Ltd., maritime records show. Moonlight Shipping is owned by an individual who, in corporate records, listed a Dalian, China, based address identified by the U.S. Treasury Department as an address for COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Seaman And Ship Management Co., Ltd. The company, a subsidiary of Chinese shipping giant COSCO, was sanctioned in 2019 alongside a number of other companies and their executives for transporting oil from Iran. The COSCO subsidiary was dissolved after it was sanctioned, though the address is still used by other subsidiaries of the shipping giant, corporate and maritime records show. Moonlight Shipping also operated the 'Themis' until late January 2021, relinquishing its position in the vessel shortly after the 'Freya' was seized, and also shut off its AIS transponder for three days in Dec 2020 west of Kalimantan, near the position where the 'Horse' and 'Freya' were seized. It was still operated by Moonlight Shipping at the time. The 'Themis'’ current operator, Shanghai Prosperity Ship Management, has a history of assuming management of vessels tied to networks implicated in Iran-related petroleum trade. It operates three vessels that had been operated by COSCO’s Dalian-based subsidiaries around the time they were sanctioned, maritime records show. The 'Freya'’s manager, Shanghai Future Ship Management Co. Ltd, does not appear on Chinese corporate records, but its listed address on corporate records matches that of Chengda Ship Management Co. Ltd. Corporate records show that Chengda Ship Management also shares identifier information with Shanghai Prosperity Ship Management and Shanghai Xinchi Petrochemical Co., Ltd., a company whose beneficial owners and an executive were sanctioned at the same time as COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Seaman for engaging in oil transactions with Iran. The sanctioned individuals left their positions at the Xinchi Petrochemical around the time of the designation. Report with photo: https://brief.kharon.com/updates/seized-vessel-shows-wider-ties-to-illicit-iranian-oil-trade-networks/

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