ANSD : Gibraltar detains Syria-bound tanker with Iranian oil

SAT 27 - 4 - 2024

Date: Jul 5, 2019
Source: The Daily Star

Gibraltar detains Syria-bound tanker with Iranian oil

_{Associated Press}
MADRID: A super tanker believed to be breaching European Union sanctions by carrying a shipment of Iranian crude oil to war-ravaged Syria has been detained in Gibraltar.

In a statement, authorities on the British overseas territory at the tip of Spain said the port and law enforcement agencies, assisted by the Royal Marines, boarded the Grace 1 early Thursday.

It added that the vessel was believed to be headed to the Baniyas Refinery in Syria, which is a government-owned facility under the control of Syrian President Bashar Assad and subject to the EU's Syrian Sanctions Regime.

The EU, and others, has imposed sanctions on Assad's regime over its continued crackdown against civilians. They currently target 270 people and 70 entities.

The Gibraltar authorities didn't confirm the origin of the ship's cargo but Lloyd's List, a publication specialized in maritime affairs, reported this week that the Panama-flagged large carrier was laden with Iranian oil. Experts were said to have concluded that it carried oil from Iran because the tanker was not sending geographic information while in Iranian waters. According to a United Nations list, the ship is owned by the Singapore-based Grace Tankers Ltd.

According to the data firm Refinitv, the vessel likely carried just over 2 million barrels of Iranian crude oil. Tracking data showed that the tanker made a slow trip around the southern tip of Africa before reaching the Mediterranean.

The timing for the interdiction of the Grace 1 was politically sensitive as tensions between the U.S. and Iran grow over the unraveling of a 2015 nuclear deal with President Donald Trump's withdrawal last year.

In recent days, Iran has broken through the limit the deal put on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium and plans on Sunday to boost its enrichment. Meanwhile, oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz have been targeted in mysterious attacks as Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen launch bomb-laden drones into Saudi Arabia. The U.S. has rushed thousands of additional troops, an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers and F-22 fighters to the region, raising fears of a miscalculation sparking a wider conflict.

There was no immediate reaction from Syria, which has suffered severe fuel shortages as a result of the civil war and Western sanctions that have crippled the country's oil industry, once the source of 20 percent of government revenues.

Iran, which has provided vital military support to Assad, extended a $3 billion credit line for oil supplies beginning in 2013 but the Iranian aid dwindled as Washington restored tough sanctions. In November, the U.S. Treasury Department added a network of Russian and Iranian companies to its blacklist for shipping oil to Syria and warned of "significant risks" for those violating the sanctions.

Fabian Picardo, Chief Minister of Gibraltar, which has in the past been a transit port for energy shipments without known buyers, said he has informed the EU about developments.

In a statement, the British government welcomed the "firm action" by authorities in Gibraltar.

Acting Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said that the tanker was detained after a request by the United States to Britain.

Spain was looking into the seizure of the ship and how it may affect Spanish sovereignty as it appears to have happened in Spanish waters, Borrell said.

Spain does not recognize the waters around Gibraltar as British.

Iran has summoned the British ambassador in Tehran over seizure, Iranian state TV quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying.

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