Small Iranian “ghost fleet” tankers are slipping through the U.S. naval blockade and transporting sanctioned liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to China via a discreet maritime hub off Malaysia, according to U.S. investigators who covertly recorded one of the vessels during its journey in September.
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which carried out the months-long investigation, said at least nine other small tankers carrying Iranian oil or LPG have similarly evaded U.S. restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz since Washington restored the blockade of Iranian ports in July.
UANI identified one of the sanctioned vessels as the SOGL. The group said the tanker slipped through the blockade on Sept. 1 with roughly 500,000 barrels of Iranian LPG after loading the cargo at an Iranian port in August.
The ship traveled thousands of miles to an offshore anchorage near Malaysia, where UANI filmed it receiving fuel and other supplies. It later continued to China, where the organization said it unloaded the Iranian cargo.
IRAN’S $800M OIL SMUGGLING SCHEME USES TANKERS POSING AS IRAQI SHIPS TO DODGE BLOCKADE
U.S. Marines aboard USS New Orleans (LPD 18) monitor the Arabian Sea during naval blockade operations targeting Iran. (U.S. Central Command)
“The tanker loaded Iranian LPG at Assaluyeh Port in late August. It then breached the U.S. blockade and headed for an anchorage off Malaysia,” Jemima Shelley, a senior analyst at UANI, said.
“The footage demonstrates that some vessels are finding ways through the U.S. maritime blockade,” Shelley said of the video shared exclusively with News Outlet.
“Most vessels are not getting through. But since the blockade was reinstated in mid-July, we have identified only nine small tankers that successfully breached it and left the Gulf of Oman carrying oil or LPG.”
The operation centers on the Malaysian Eastern Outer Port Limits Anchorage, or EOPL, an offshore shipping zone located about 70 kilometers from Malaysia’s coast.
Shelley said the anchorage has emerged as a crucial staging area for Iran’s sanctioned energy shipments to China.
Ships can remain offshore, take on provisions and transfer cargo between vessels there, creating a logistical lifeline for Iranian energy exports while U.S. naval forces patrol waters closer to Iran.
UANI had been tracking the SOGL before the tanker reached Malaysian waters, Shelley said.
“On September 16, United Against Nuclear Iran chartered a supply vessel and traveled 100 nautical miles into the Malaysian Eastern Outer Port Limits Anchorage,” Shelley said.
“We saw the illicit activity of ghost fleet tankers firsthand, along with several Iran-flagged cargo vessels in the anchorage. The SOGL was among them.”
She described the SOGL as a “small Handymax tanker carrying 500,000 barrels of Iranian LPG.”
The U.S. maritime blockade was introduced April 13, lifted temporarily in mid-June and restored July 14 after diplomatic talks broke down. The campaign has sharply curtailed Iran’s crude exports, cutting into a major revenue source as Tehran confronts mounting economic pressure.
“The blockade has been overwhelmingly effective at stopping vessels loaded with Iranian oil and petrochemicals from leaving the Gulf of Oman,” Shelley said.
Since the blockade returned, she said, “no Iranian crude oil has successfully departed and reached the export market, creating enormous economic pressure on the Iranian regime.”
“The exceptions are a handful of opportunistic small tankers that have managed to get through.”
The United States is chiefly focusing on Iranian crude shipments and very large tankers, which can carry “two million barrels of Iranian crude,” Shelley said.
Malaysia lies roughly 10 days to two weeks by sea from Iran. (AFP/AFP via Getty Images)
LPG is a flammable blend of hydrocarbons, mainly propane and butane, used in heating, cooking, transportation and industrial manufacturing.
“LPG presents significant risks,” Shelley said. “The first step in enforcing the U.S. blockade is generally to order these vessels to turn around.”
“At times, however, military force may be required, and that would be exceptionally dangerous with a more volatile cargo such as LPG.”
Shelley said smaller tankers exploit those enforcement challenges while using methods associated with Iran’s ghost fleet.
“They switch off their AIS and frequently sail under false flags, effectively making them stateless vessels,” she said.
Automatic Identification System, or AIS, transponders transmit a ship’s identity, location and movements to nearby vessels and maritime authorities. Disabling the system makes a tanker harder to identify and follow.
“They will often load the cargo, pass through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, and then carry out a ship-to-ship transfer in the Gulf of Oman,” Shelley said, calling it a “particularly dangerous operation because the cargo is LPG rather than crude oil.”
“The tanker receiving the LPG then continues onward and attempts to breach the blockade.”
Even so, the operation remains modest compared with Iran’s energy exports in previous years.
Liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, is a flammable blend consisting mainly of propane and butane. It is used for heating, cooking, transportation and industrial production, but presents significant risks during shipping. (Firdous Nazir/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The SOGL, identified by IMO number 9208227, was added to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list on Oct. 8. Authorities accused the vessel of transporting Iranian petroleum products since 2025.
The ship has sailed under several flags, including those of Comoros and Zimbabwe, and sanctions records have connected it to Gravion Maritime Co.
“These tankers are classic examples of how the ghost fleet operates. They use false flags, leaving them effectively stateless, and are managed through complex networks of front companies,” Shelley said.
The EOPL anchorage, about a 10-day-to-two-week voyage from Iran, has meanwhile become a key logistical base for Iranian ships heading toward Chinese buyers and a “critical node in Iran’s oil trade with China,” Shelley said.
“Ghost fleet tankers and Iran-flagged vessels use it after loading Iranian crude and sailing east from Iran. At the anchorage, they frequently conduct ship-to-ship transfers with the tanker that will make the final voyage to China.”
“The anchorage is also often used for floating storage, which has helped Iran continue operating despite the blockade’s reinstatement in July,” Shelley said.
She said Iranian floating storage has declined since enforcement began, ranging from “zero to seven million barrels.”
“That shows how the offshore anchorage has helped Iran endure. Ghost fleet tankers carrying Iranian products can remain there and wait.”
United Against Nuclear Iran recorded the sanctioned tanker offshore. (UANI)
UANI’s video shows the SOGL riding low in the water while receiving bunkering services from a smaller tanker off Malaysia. Shelley said local authorities appear to be “looking the other way.”
“This is a routine sight at the anchorage. It is used not only for ship-to-ship cargo transfers, but also by ghost fleet tankers and cargo ships seeking food, logistical support and bunker fuel.”
China remains the principal destination for Iranian oil and LPG, giving Tehran a vital economic outlet despite U.S. sanctions and the naval blockade.
“China accounted for 80% of Iran’s liquid cargo exports for years, and that share has increased since the beginning of the Iran War. China now imports nearly 100% of Iran’s oil and LPG exports.”
“That has created a trading system through which Iran can evade U.S. and OPEC sanctions, while China purchases Iranian oil and LPG at heavily discounted prices.”
An Iranian oil tanker is shown floating in the Caspian Sea. (HENGHAMEH FAHIMI/AFP via Getty Images)
After UANI’s visit to the EOPL, the SOGL did not conduct a ship-to-ship transfer, Shelley said.
“Instead, it traveled north into the South China Sea and ultimately discharged its Iranian LPG at Xinzhou Port in China.”
Bloomberg separately reported that the G Summer, a U.S.-sanctioned LPG carrier with capacity for approximately 7,000 cubic meters, was tracked transmitting signals from the Arabian Sea beyond the American blockade line in April.
The vessel broadcast that it had an “all Chinese crew,” while shipping data listed Iran as its most recent cargo origin and Galle, Sri Lanka, as its declared destination.
News Outlet has contacted CENTCOM for comment.
