The US has blacklisted an elderly tanker suspected of hauling Iranian oil to China after a ship-to-ship transfer with a “fake” tanker.
The Panama-flagged, 160,400-dwt Lady Sofia (built 2001) received the cargo on 31 January off Singapore from a tanker that was falsely broadcasting its location and disguised as a fictitious tanker, the Amor, according to US Treasury officials.
The “fake” tanker, the 150,900-dwt Mehle (built 1999), had been blacklisted earlier that month because it was said to be linked to the network of alleged Houthi financial fixer Sa’id al-Jamal, the Treasury said.
