tanker Archives - Iran News Daily

Iran Receives Money for Gasoline Sold to Venezuela

reporter 1222 — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 10:34:38 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – A member of Iran’s Expediency Council said the country has received money from Venezuela for selling gasoline with five oil tankers.

In comments on Monday, Ali Aqamohammadi said Iran has no problem in receiving money for the gasoline it has sold to Venezuela.

He said the money earned by selling gasoline to Venezuela with five oil tankers has been received and deposited in the treasury of Iran.

Aqamohammadi, who is also the chairman of the economic group at the office of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, said the gasoline money has been deposited in the treasury as a credit gained by the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company and the Oil Ministry.

Five Iranian oil-laden ships have so far reached Venezuelan shores, and the sixth vessel carrying a cargo of food has entered Venezuela’s territorial waters on Monday.

Venezuela experiences difficulties with the supply of gasoline due to sanctions unilaterally imposed by the United States which has also slapped unilateral sanctions on Iran, which are aimed at ending its oil exports.

The shipments have created a fresh diplomatic standoff between the US and Iran, with an American official saying Washington is considering measures in response without providing further details.

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Iran: Any harassment of oil tankers to be responded decisively

reporter 1222 — Wed, 20 May 2020 12:04:20 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said that any US harassment of Iranian oil tankers will be met with a decisive response.

“Any disruption for tankers is against international regulations and security,” Hatami said on Wednesday referring to the release of some reports on the threat of US officials to harass tankers carrying Iran’s fuel to Venezuela.

“Both international organizations and countries that are sensitive to water regulations and security must react to this issue,” he added.

Stating that any US harassment of Iranian tankers will be met with a decisive response, Hatami said, “It is a kind of piracy.”

“Of course, our policy is quite clear, and we have made it clear that we will not tolerate any harassment,” he stressed, adding, “The Americans and others know that we will certainly not hesitate to react to this issue, and if the harassment intensifies and continues, it will certainly face a decisive response.”

Unconfirmed reports and tanker monitoring groups said at least five Iranian-flagged tankers are transporting fuel to Venezuela through the Atlantic Ocean despite US sanctions targeting both Tehran and Caracas.

The US Navy is said to have deployed its USS Detroit (LCS-7), USS Lassen (DDG-82), USS Preble (DDG-88), and USS Farragut (DDG-99) to the Caribbean along with its patrol aircraft Boeing P8-Poseidon for a possible encounter with the Iranian vessels.

In a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday, Zarif described “the illegal, dangerous and provocative US threats [against the Iranian tankers]” as a form of piracy and a big threat to international peace and security. He then highlighted the responsibility of “the US administration with regard to the consequences of any illegal move, reiterating Iran’s right to adopt appropriate and necessary measures in the face of such threats.

Tehran also summoned Swiss ambassador whose country represents US interests in Tehran, to voice the country’s vehement protest at US provocations.

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Norwegian MV Osprey on fire off UAE coast

reporter 1222 — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 07:14:44 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Norwegian ship MV Osprey has caught fire in the Persian Gulf near the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

Reports on Wednesday suggested that the tanker caught fire some 40 kilometers off the coast of Sharjah, a port in the UAE. Preliminary investigations indicate the fire broke out aboard the vessel as a result of an accident during a maintenance-related operation.

They said that the heavy load vessel, Norwegian ship MV Osprey, was manned when it caught fire around 4 pm local time. The number of crew was not known.

Sources told The National, an Emirati news website, that the UAE coast guard had assisted with the operation to put out the blaze and all the crew has been rescued.

The Associated Press cited US officials as saying that they were aware of the incident in the Persian Gulf, a region which has been the scene of rising tensions between Iran and the United States since Washington withdrew from an international deal on Iran’s nuclear program in 2018.

British officials also issued a warning to ships sailing in the region. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said that it had received an email suggesting that there was a fire on board a tanker northwest of the UAE, adding that ships should “exercise extreme caution”.

“This Advisory is not classified as a Maritime Security Event and has not been verified by UKMTO,” the report added.

The incident is the third of its kind involving boats traveling off the UAE coast in the past two weeks. On Sunday, a yacht caught fire in Dubai Marina and on January 17, a boat erupted in flames off Burj Al Arab after the vessel’s engine failed and some leaked fuel ignited.

Tensions are heightened in the region, especially after the United States assassinated a senior Iranian military commander in Iraq, prompting Tehran to hit back with firing more than a dozen missiles at US military bases in Iraq.

The blaze occurred about a year after the US and other Western governments blamed Iran for attacks on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf or others sailing in the Sea of Oman.

Tehran has denied any involvement in last year incidents but authorities have suggested that it could close the strait — through which a third of global seaborne oil passes — if its interests are harmed by others.

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War of Tankers: UK Loses, Iran Wins

reporter 1222 — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 22:25:30 +0000

After visits of two high-ranking regional officials, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi, for convincing Iran to release British oil tanker which has been seized by the IRGC, and Iran rejected exchange of two confiscated oil tankers with the new British government and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on Wednesday Gibraltarian government gave in to Iran’s resistance and after getting nod from UK, its chief minister released a statement on releasing Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 , and it claimed Iran has promised that it would not sell oil to the sanctioned entities and it was a swingeing lie and it actually showed the retreat and surrender of UK against Iran.

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

The territory’s chief minister said he had agreed to let the vessel go after he had received a written assurance from Iran that the final destination of the tanker Grace 1 “would not be an entity that is subject to European Union sanctions.” That meant there were “no longer any reasonable grounds for the continued legal detention”, he added. The minister acknowledged that the U.S. Department of Justice had indicated it was minded to challenge the decision and said mutual legal assistance authorities would make “an objective, legal determination of that request”.

It has been a winning challenge for Iran. Before Gibraltarian government decisions, most analyses assumptions about the fate of the tanker were mostly focused on three axes: First, Iran should release British oil tanker and in return UK releases Iranian oil tanker; Second, Iran and UK release both seized oil tankers simultaneously, and third, UK should release Iranian oil tanker and in return Iran releases British oil tanker.

Regarding the first assumption, this issue had been raised that this idea is not acceptable at all and it does not conform to any international laws because British government had seized the Iranian oil tanker without having any legal proof and it took action only to please the U.S. and as a retaliatory move for shooting down of the U.S. drone. This is the point that major British media and officials have confessed and they have criticized British government for following the U.S. and proxy confrontation, while the British oil tanker has been seized by Iran because of violating international marine laws. So it was Iran’s right to seize the British oil tanker because of violating the laws. So if Iran releases the tanker first, it will be interpreted as a tribute to a culprit and it was at contradiction with Iran’s legal and international reputation.

On the second assumption and analysis, one can assure that it would not be accepted, and in case Iran accepted it, it would mean that Iran, like UK, has committed illegal act and both sides had to retreat because of their offences. In this condition, British piracy and its big crime might be overshadowed and ignored.

But regarding the third assumption, UK should first release Iranian oil tanker which close to desirable which shows Iran’s strength and the Old Fox’s (Old Fox is a term used by Iranians to describe Britain) retreat, it is necessary that UK also apologizes officially and guarantees that it would never repeat piracy any longer . This approach is our legal and recognized right and our officials in the foreign policy system should not let this unprecedented show of power of Iran on seizure of violating British oil tanker be delisted from Islamic Iran’s honors because authoritative act of Iran will be a turning point in changing regional power equation in favor of Islamic Iran and it will show the world that our enemies are petty and mean elements that they have only big shelters.

Gibraltarian Chief Minister’s statement on Wednesday has endorsed the third assumption in analyses, and under pretext of legal study and review and verdict of the court announced the release of the oil tanker, and to save face of UK, he told a swingeing lie that Iran has promised not to sell oil to the sanctioned entities.

Of course, the Old Fox has enough lies in hands to justify its act to the world public opinion and it has to resort to such propagations. It has been and is Iran’s authority that it should to resist by sticking to the legal logic in order to dictate its right. So in this current condition and in order to thank God for such a blessing we fall down in prostration of gratitude because once again the world has witnessed Iran’s resistance doctrine and we once again made UK accept our conditions which has proved our legitimacy since the beginning.

By: Hamid Reza Naghashian

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China shifts to Iranian tankers to keep oil flowing

reporter 1222 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 12:30:27 +0000

Chinese buyers of Iranian oil are starting to shift their cargoes to vessels owned by National Iranian Tanker Co. (NITC) for nearly all of their imports to keep supply flowing amid the re-imposition of economic sanctions by the US, Reuters reported Tuesday.

The shift demonstrates that China, Iran’s biggest oil customer, wants to keep buying Iranian crude despite the sanctions, which were put back after the United States withdrew in May from 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

In the face of US pressure on other countries to stop doing business with Iran after the country’s unilateral and unlawful pullout from the nuclear deal, China has said it is opposed to any unilateral sanctions and has defended its commercial ties with Iran.

To safeguard their supplies, state oil trader Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp. and Sinopec Group, Asia’s biggest refiner, have activated a clause in its long-term supply agreements with National Iranian Oil Corp. (NIOC) that allows them to use NITC-operated tankers, Reuters quoted four sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

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China to Explore Iranian Oil Tanker Wreck for Missing Bodies: Report

reporter 1222 — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 05:20:13 +0000

TEHRAN– An Iranian oil tanker that sank in the East China Sea has left two oil slicks covering a combined 109 square km (42 square miles), the Chinese government said late on Tuesday, as maritime police scour for damage and prepare to explore the wreck.

Satellite imaging showed a slick of 69 square km (26.6 square miles) and a second 40 square km (15.4 square miles) slick, which is less thick and not as concentrated, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said in a statement, Reuters reported.

The large tanker Sanchi sank in the worst oil ship disaster in decades on Sunday, raising worries about damage to the marine ecosystem. The bodies of two sailors were recovered from the ship while a third body was pulled from the sea near the vessel. The remaining 29 crew of the ship are presumed dead.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Transport said the salvage team had located the wreck, which was at a depth of 115 meters (377 feet) under sea level, and were preparing to send underwater robots to explore it.

The SOA said vessels have taken 31 water samples in the area around the wreck containing black grease with heavy oil smells, and a concentration of petroleum that exceeds some seawater quality standard limits.

Clean-up teams continue to monitor the wreck area to assess the distribution and drift of the oil spill and the ecological impact.

The Sanchi had been adrift and ablaze after crashing into the freighter CF Crystal on Jan. 6. Strong winds pushed it away from the Chinese coast, where the incident happened, and into Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

The ship, which was carrying 136,000 tons or almost 1 million barrels of condensate – an ultra-light, highly flammable crude oil – sank after several explosions weakened the hull.

On Tuesday, Japan’s environment ministry said it does not see much chance that the spill will reach its shores.

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Sanchi oil tanker sinks, all crew presumed dead

reporter 1222 — Sun, 14 Jan 2018 13:00:13 +0000

TEHRAN – Following massive explosions on Iranian oil tanker Sanchi on Sun., Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran confirmed the death of all 32 crew members.

Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran said in a statement on Sunday that today’s extensive explosions have left no crew members alive, extending condolences to the breaved families and the Iranian nation.

The Panama-registered Iranian oil tanker, Sanchi, with 32 crew members on board, caught on fire after colliding with a Hong Kong cargo ship on Jan. 6, 160 nautical miles (296 km) from China’s east coast.

On Saturday, two more bodies of the crew members were found and the ‘black box’ was retrieved. The first body had been found on Monday.

Iran had dispatched a team of army commandos and a delegation from the Parliament’s National Security Commission for search and rescue operations.

Toxic gases, smoke and fire had prevented rescuers to board the ablaze tanker in search of the missing crew.

The statement also confirmed the complete sinking f the oil tanker.

According to Minister of Labor and Welfare Ali Rabiee, who heads the follow-up committee on Sanchi oil tanker, the Chinese side has lost all hope of finding the bodies of the sunken crew members, but the Iranian delegation will still look into the matter.

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Iranian oil tankers obtain 2 new intl. certificates

reporter 1222 — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 12:36:29 +0000

TEHRAN – Iranian oil tanker fleet have succeeded in receiving two new international certificates including ISO9001:2015 and ISO14001:2015.

As a result of cruel international sanctions, the process of issuing expert and international certificates had stopped for Iranian tankers who were consequently banned from entering major European ports.

Nevertheless, all sanction-related restrictions were alleviated once the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was implemented.

National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) fleet is now able to commute in Europe, Mediterranean Sea, South Korea, China, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, UAE, Libya, Algeria, Turkey and also some Latin America countries.

Norwegian Company DNV GL, upon reviewing qualification of National Iranian Tanker Company, approved its quality and the environment aspects.

DNV GL is an international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered near Oslo, Norway.

National Iranian Tanker Company was awarded with ISO9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certificates.

NITC currently has about 13,550 employees and 350 offices operating in more than 100 countries, and provides services for several industries, including maritime, renewable energy, oil & gas, electrification, food & beverage and healthcare.

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