Waters Off Singapore and Malaysia Become Transshipment Hub, Iranian Oil Continues to Flow to China

(Central News Agency, Paris, 16th, comprehensive foreign report) Despite the ongoing war in the Middle East, ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of Iranian oil continue in the waters near Singapore, thousands of miles from the Strait of Hormuz, helping Tehran evade sanctions and maintain trade with China. Currently, nearly 400 oil tankers are sanctioned by the United States, the European Union, or the United Kingdom for involvement in Iran-related activities. Iran's "ghost fleet" is mostly composed of old vessels, operating discreetly through opaque ownership structures, forged flags, lack of insurance, and manipulation of GPS data. These oil tankers can "launder" the origin of goods through ship-to-ship transfers on the high seas, concealing the true origin of the oil. The waters off Malaysia and Singapore, about 100 kilometers southeast of the Malay Peninsula, have become an important hub for transshipping Iranian crude oil. Amir Handjani of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a Washington think tank, stated, "This is indeed a major hub." He described the transshipment situation there as "completely chaotic." Although the United States once relaxed some sanctions, these transfers continued during the war. Elisabeth Braw, an expert at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, said that in the face of the United States' "contradictory approaches," on the one hand relaxing sanctions and on the other blocking Iranian ports, "exporting Iranian oil through shadow fleets and ship-to-ship transfers is even safer than legal exports." Citing data from shipping data company Kpler, Agence France-Presse pointed out that since March 1, at least 37 Iran-related oil tankers have conducted transfers in this sea area, totaling at least 62.3 million barrels of crude oil. If a final destination is indicated, these goods mostly flow to ports in northern Chinese provinces, including Shandong, Liaoning, and Jiangsu. Most oil tankers had left the Persian Gulf before the war broke out on February 28, but during the conflict, at least 6 Iranian oil tankers still completed transfers near Singapore, totaling about 10 million barrels. Analysts pointed out that with the United States beginning to block Iranian ports on April 13, coupled with a large amount of Iranian oil still existing in the form of "floating storage at sea," the ship-to-ship transfer model may continue to be active. (Compiler: Hsu Rui-cheng) 1150417