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Greek Tanker Company Fined $2.4M by U.S. for Handling Iranian Oil - The Maritime Executive

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<title>Greek Tanker Company Fined $2.4M by U.S. for Handling Iranian Oil</title>
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"datePublished": "2023-09-07T13:44:53-0400",
"articleBody": "Greek tanker operator Empire Navigation agreed in April 2023 to plead guilty in U.S. court to charges of transporting illicit Iranian oil in the highly publicized case of the Suez Rajan, a tanker that was brought from the Far East to Houston so that the U.S. could seize and unload its cargo. Newly released court documents obtained by the Associated Press and The New York Times illustrate the depths Iran is taking to hide its sanctioned oil shipments confirming what watchdog groups have long contended.

The court documents confirm the guilty plea was entered on April 19 and the company was sentenced that same day. The U.S. government however had moved to have the documents remain sealed telling the court that the action was “likely to cause security risks to the defendant, the government, as well as the vessel and its crew.”

According to documents seen by the Associated Press, Empire Navigation will pay a fine of $2.4 million after it pleaded guilty to one count of violating the sanctions imposed by the U.S. on the shipment and sale of Iranian oil. In addition, the Greek shipping company agreed to assist the U.S. in the transfer and offloading of the crude oil cargo aboard its ship in Texas. They will also serve three years probation.

As part of the case, a statement of the facts was entered into the record with the company agreeing the information was “true and accurate,” and not to dispute the Statement of the Offense. Lawyers for the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice write in the document, “the following facts establish beyond a reasonable doubt,” the circumstances and violations of the sanctions. 

They trace the illicit oil shipment starting with it being loaded in January 2022 on the Virgo (305,700 dwt) tanker registered in Panama. The Equasis database reports the ship had been managed by another Greek shipping company, Dynacom Tankers, but went through a series of companies and is now managed by a company in India. The tanker spoofed its position with a secondary AIS transponder confirmed by images from the European Space Agency. It loaded the crude oil cargo and departed fully laden from an Iranian terminal for the Far East.

Empire Navigation received more than $1.2 million in February 2022 for the charter of the Suez Rajan (158,000 dwt), a tanker registered in the Marshall Islands. The vessel, which was empty, was instructed to make a ship-to-ship transfer receiving a small amount of crude from one tanker, the CS Brillance (300,000 dwt tanker registered in Panama). A few days later, the Virgo arrived and made a second transfer to the Suez Rajan, although the captain was instructed to show a single transfer from the first vessel in the logs. In the court papers, the U.S. contends the captain and chief officer working for Empire falsified the records of the oil transfer in the logs of the Suez Rajan.

The case was complicated by the fact that the records show that the Suez Rajan was owned by a U.S. investment company, Oaktree Capital Management. They, however, contend they sold the tanker to Empire Navigation.

The tanker itself remains at anchor off the Texas coast. The lightering operation began last month after a long delay believed to be related to threats by Iran to retaliate against any company involved in the transfer. Iran has already recently seized tankers and harassed other vessels in the Persian Gulf region and the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. and UK officials have continued to warn ships of the danger and increased their patrols in the region.

The watchdog group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) regularly highlights the movements of tankers illustrating the Iranian regime&#39;s efforts to avoid the sanctions. They called attention to the Suez Rajan. The group has identified approximately 300 tankers it believes are involved in the efforts to transport sanctioned Iranian oil products. The group highlights the use of the so-called shadow fleet, efforts at regularly disguising or turning off AIS signals, and ship-to-ship transfers mostly in Asia before sending the oil to China.

Iran admits that it is increasing its shipments of crude oil saying that it has reached the levels prior to the Trump administration. Commodity intelligence firm Kpler estimates Iran is exporting 1 to 1.5 million barrels of oil a day while Tehran now claims to be exporting nearly 2 million barrels a day.

The U.S. has increased its efforts at targeting tanker companies receiving the shipments and has gone to court on other occasions to seize the oil. While they have succeeded in several cases, last summer the efforts to seize a cargo in Greece failed when Greek courts sided with Iran and ordered the crude which had already been partially offloaded returned to the tanker which Iran identified as part of its national fleet. Iran later released two Greek tankers that it had seized in the Middle East as retaliation.
 
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Greek Tanker Company Fined $2.4M by U.S. for Handling Iranian Oil
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<figcaption>The U.S. attempted to seize the oil on the tanker Pegas in 2022 (Russian Embassy photo)</figcaption>
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<p>Greek tanker operator Empire Navigation agreed in April 2023 to plead guilty in U.S. court to charges of transporting illicit Iranian oil in the highly publicized case of the <em>Suez Rajan</em>, a tanker that was brought from the Far East to Houston so that the U.S. could seize and unload its cargo. Newly released court documents obtained by the Associated Press and The New York Times illustrate the depths Iran is taking to hide its sanctioned oil shipments confirming what watchdog groups have long contended.</p>

<p>The court documents confirm the guilty plea was entered on April 19 and the company was sentenced that same day. The U.S. government however had moved to have the documents remain sealed telling the court that the action was &ldquo;likely to cause security risks to the defendant, the government, as well as the vessel and its crew.&rdquo;</p>

<p>According to documents seen by the Associated Press, Empire Navigation will pay a fine of $2.4 million after it pleaded guilty to one count of violating the sanctions imposed by the U.S. on the shipment and sale of Iranian oil. In addition, the Greek shipping company agreed to assist the U.S. in the transfer and offloading of the crude oil cargo aboard its ship in Texas. They will also serve three years probation.</p>

<p>As part of the case, a statement of the facts was entered into the record with the company agreeing the information was &ldquo;true and accurate,&rdquo; and not to dispute the Statement of the Offense. Lawyers for the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice write in the document, &ldquo;the following facts establish beyond a reasonable doubt,&rdquo; the circumstances and violations of the sanctions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>They trace the illicit oil shipment starting with it being loaded in January 2022 on the <em>Virgo</em> (305,700 dwt) tanker registered in Panama. The Equasis database reports the ship had been managed by another Greek shipping company, Dynacom Tankers, but went through a series of companies and is now managed by a company in India. The tanker spoofed its position with a secondary AIS transponder confirmed by images from the European Space Agency. It loaded the crude oil cargo and departed fully laden from an Iranian terminal for the Far East.</p>

<p>Empire Navigation received more than $1.2 million in February 2022 for the charter of the <em>Suez Rajan</em> (158,000 dwt), a tanker registered in the Marshall Islands. The vessel, which was empty, was instructed to make a ship-to-ship transfer receiving a small amount of crude from one tanker, the <em>CS Brillance</em> (300,000 dwt tanker registered in Panama). A few days later, the <em>Virgo </em>arrived and made a second transfer to the <em>Suez Rajan</em>, although the captain was instructed to show a single transfer from the first vessel in the logs. In the court papers, the U.S. contends the captain and chief officer working for Empire falsified the records of the oil transfer in the logs of the <em>Suez Rajan</em>.</p>

<p>The case was complicated by the fact that the records show that the <em>Suez Rajan</em> was owned by a U.S. investment company, Oaktree Capital Management. They, however, contend they sold the tanker to Empire Navigation.</p>

<p>The tanker itself remains at anchor off the Texas coast. The lightering operation began last month after a long delay believed to be related to threats by Iran to retaliate against any company involved in the transfer. Iran has already recently seized tankers and harassed other vessels in the Persian Gulf region and the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. and UK officials have continued to warn ships of the danger and increased their patrols in the region.</p>

<p>The watchdog group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) regularly highlights the movements of tankers illustrating the Iranian regime&#39;s efforts to avoid the sanctions. They called attention to the <em>Suez Rajan</em>. The group has identified approximately 300 tankers it believes are involved in the efforts to transport sanctioned Iranian oil products. The group highlights the use of the so-called shadow fleet, efforts at regularly disguising or turning off AIS signals, and ship-to-ship transfers mostly in Asia before sending the oil to China.</p>

<p>Iran admits that it is increasing its shipments of crude oil saying that it has reached the levels prior to the Trump administration. Commodity intelligence firm Kpler estimates Iran is exporting 1 to 1.5 million barrels of oil a day while Tehran now claims to be exporting nearly 2 million barrels a day.</p>

<p>The U.S. has increased its efforts at targeting tanker companies receiving the shipments and has gone to court on other occasions to seize the oil. While they have succeeded in several cases, last summer the efforts to seize a cargo in Greece failed when Greek courts sided with Iran and ordered the crude which had already been partially offloaded returned to the tanker which Iran identified as part of its national fleet. Iran later released two Greek tankers that it had seized in the Middle East as retaliation.<br />
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The salvage operation to remove cars and debris from the fire-damaged car carrier Fremantle Highway has been completed. It is thought that as many as 1,000 vehicles may have been removed mostly from the lower decks of the ship and many appeared undamaged while others were burnt and at least one caught fire on the dock.

&ldquo;We have returned the ship to the owner,&rdquo; a spokesperson for Boskalis which was leading the salvage operation with Multraship told Dutch media today....
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[By:&nbsp;Dita Liliansa]

The two giant freighters floated &ldquo;dark&rdquo; in the open ocean not far from Indonesia. Their positioning transponders switched off, neither tanker displayed a national flag &ndash; but one ship was known to have claimed Iranian registration, the other to have made at least eight visits to Venezuela in recent years.

And between them pumped thousands of barrels of oil.

In July this year, Indonesian authorities intervened in this ship-to-ship oil transfer being carried out within Indonesia&rsquo;s exclusive economic...
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<h2 class="title">
<a href="https://maritime-executive.com/article/strikes-begin-at-chevron-s-austr…; target="_blank" class="font-firasans">Strikes Begin at Chevron’s Australian LNG Operations After Talks Break Off</a>
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<p class="author datePublished">
Published
Sep 8, 2023 2:47 PM by
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<a href="https://maritime-executive.com/author/marex&quot; class="color-2 font-roboto">
The Maritime Executive
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<p class="summary">
The first of the strikes began today at Chevron Australia&rsquo;s LNG operations sending fears of potential repercussions in the global energy markets as the job actions are due to escalate over the next week. Chevron is one of the world&rsquo;s largest producers and makes up a large part of Australia&rsquo;s LNG supply, which is also the largest exporter in Asia.

The Offshore Alliance, which is made up of the Maritime Union of Australia and the Australian Workers Union, delayed the...
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<a href="https://maritime-executive.com/article/strikes-begin-at-chevron-s-austr…; target="_blank" class="read-more">Continue Reading...</a>
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<a href="https://maritime-executive.com/article/commercial-ships-carrying-grain-…; target="_blank" class="font-firasans">
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<h2 class="title">
<a href="https://maritime-executive.com/article/commercial-ships-carrying-grain-…; target="_blank" class="font-firasans">Commercial Ships Carrying Grain are Getting Air Support from UK&#039;s RAF</a>
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<p class="author datePublished">
Published
Sep 8, 2023 1:47 PM by
<b>
<a href="https://maritime-executive.com/author/marex&quot; class="color-2 font-roboto">
The Maritime Executive
</a>
</b>
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<p class="summary">
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak revealed today that the UK is undertaking efforts to support commercial shipping in the Black Sea transporting grain from Ukraine and deterring Russian attacks on cargo ships. This comes as Russia has continued its nightly attacks on Ukraine&rsquo;s Black Sea and Danube seaports despite continuing calls to resume the grain agreement.

On the eve of the G20 Summit starting in India, the prime minister&rsquo;s office announced a series of new initiatives by the UK designed...
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