Iranian Oil Tankers Put On Disguises As EU Ban Looms

Iran’s biggest oil tanker operator, NITC, has sent its super-tankers for a makeover, reported the Financial Times on Thursday, with the freshly-painted tankers now having new names, new flags and new home ports, in order to avoid being tracked by Western officials.

Iran’s biggest oil tanker operator, NITC, has sent its super-tankers for a makeover, reported the Financial Times on Thursday, with the freshly-painted tankers now having new names, new flags and new home ports, in order to avoid being tracked by Western officials.

Over the past seven weeks, 24 NITC vessels – or more than half NITC’s entire fleet – have been renamed by the company, said the report, with at least 13 of these ships now flying other foreign flags on their mast.

In addition, official ownership for these ships have now been switched from NITC to new companies operating from the same address in Tehran; while some ships previously registered in Malta or Cyprus are now listed under either Tuvalu or Tanzania.

Though NITC has yet to be subjected to any US or European sanctions, many analysts believe that the looming European Union ban on Iranian oil imports would severely affect its business.

Furthermore, while the company was privatised in 2000, many western oil traders and shipbrokers believe that NITC retain close links with the Iranian government.

NITC’s sister company the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) for instance was sanctioned by the UN after Washington and the EU suspected that their ships transported military equipment for Iran.

According to ship tracking data on Reuters, two of NITC’s tankers, now called Pioneer and Elite, were heading through the Red Sea towards Europe, where a ban on buying Iranian oil comes into effect on July 1.

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The company has thus far declined to comment on the topic, despite numerous phone calls from separate news agencies.

Nonetheless, the rebranding exercise appears to have little results and has even amused some members of the oil trading and shipping community.

[quote]“To use former Vice-president Cheney’s favourite phrase, ‘It’s like lipstick on a pig’, and will fool nobody,” said Ed Morse, head of commodities research at Citigroup and a former oil official at the US State Department.[/quote]

Below is a list of some of the ships that have been renamed:

Davar (previous name): Companion – Tanzania

Haraz: Freedom – Tanzania

Hoda: Precious – Tuvalu

Hadi: Pioneer – Tuvalu

Hamoon: Lena – Tuvalu

Nesa: Truth – Tuvalu

Najm: Motion – Tuvalu

Nabi: Brawny – Tuvalu

Noah: Elite – Tuvalu

Sima: Blossom – Tuvalu

Susangrid: Daisy – Tanzania

Abadan: Alpha – Tuvalu

Astaneh: Neptune – Tuvalu