December 2022 Iran Tanker Tracking and Year Review

UANI’s final tanker tracker of the year looks back at some of the topline figures for 2022, prescriptions for 2023, and UANI’s impact over the year.

2022 Summary

In 2022 Iran managed to increase exports slightly by 3.3%, from 416 million barrels in 2021 to just under 430 million in 2022.  The free flow of Iranian oil exports is the number one reason keeping the regime financially alive.

China was again the number one recipient of Iranian oil by a huge margin, receiving a total of 304 million barrels of crude oil and gas condensate, roughly approximate to its 2021 import total. Syria was the second top importer with a small rise from 2021, while Venezuela jumped to third with a massive 100% increase in Iranian oil imports from 9 million in 2021 to 19 million in 2022. The chart below shows the total number of Iranian barrels exported to each country during 2022 compared to 2021:

Country of Destination	Total Number of Barrels of Iranian Oil Exported in 2022	Total Number of Iranian Barrels Exported in 2021
China	303,952,163	299,133,272
Syria	30,973,819	28,558,921
UAE	11,535,964	12,669,232
Malaysia	2,480,306	0
Venezuela	19,661,334	9,071,059
Unknown	60,994,032	65,596,089
Total	429,597,618	415,814,112

View Iran Tanker Tracking

PRESCRIPTIONS

Top Ten Transporters

The Administration’s response to ongoing exports in 2022 was a little better than the previous year.  Most notably, it sanctioned the following 16 individual vessels:

1. BS BRAVO (IMO: 9294795)
2. SUMMER 5 (IMO: 9204805)
3. GLORY HARVEST (IMO: 9143506)
4. GAS ALLURE (IMO: 9142150)
5. ADISA (IMO: 9304667)
6. B LUMINOSA (IMO: 9256016)
7. BLUEFINS (IMO: 9221657)
8. BOCEANICA (IMO: 9267132)
9. BUENO (IMO: 9282443)
10. JULIA A (IMO: 9236353)
11. LARA I (IMO: 9231767)
12. NOLAN (IMO: 9179701)
13. RAIN DROP (IMO: 9194127)
14. YOUNG YONG (IMO: 9194127)
15. ZEPHYR I (IMO: 9255880)
16. QUEEN LUCA (IMO: 9102198)

While we commend these designations, the annual increase in exports shows that the USG must do more, including by designating these worst offending vessels:

Vessel Name & IMO	Flag	Total Number of Barrels Exported (2022)	Total Number of Iranian Barrels Exported (2021)
TITAN (EX: ETHAN,  LUBOV) (9293741)	SAMOA (FALSE)	15,965,712	11,178,517
AVITAL (EX: LAVAL) (9246279)	SAMOA (FALSE)	13,796,550	9,601,863
AMAK (9244635)	PANAMA	13,583,276	10,452,561
ELVA (9196644)	SAO TOME & PRINCIPE (FALSE)	12,585,862	7,562,786
ASTERIX (EX: PHOENIX) (9181194)	UNKNOWN	12,307,952	16,403,446
VIRGO (9236250)	PANAMA	11,510,686	9,834,723
TIFANI (9273337)	UNKNOWN	9,847,917	8,906,271
ANITA (9203253)	UNKNOWN	9,827,670	10,413,542
BERG 1 (926168)	PANAMA	9,779,298	5,965,556
VIGOR (9262156)	PANAMA	9,712,846	7,610,503

Italicized vessels are new additions to the 2022 worst offending vessels list. They were not included in the top 10 from 2021.

Targeting the Teapots

It is also clear that the Administration must target the Chinese purchasers of Iranian oil and tankers in earnest.  China’s army of “teapot” refineries appear to be importing the vast bulk of Iranian oil (see below). Since “quiet diplomacy” with Beijing over the import of Iranian oil has failed, the U.S. must start directly sanctioning the teapots and any of the banks financing this trade.

Ship-to-Ship Sanctions Evaders

Finally, we urge the Administration to again look carefully at the long list of foreign-flagged vessels that have engaged in multiple s STS transfers of Iranian oil in 2022 with a view to sanctioning them. The most prolific STS offenders are listed below:

Italicized vessels are new additions to the 2022 worst offending vessels list. They were not included in the top 10 from 2021.

UANI IN 2022

This year, UANI helped disrupt Iran’s vital oil trade by reaching three separate “centuries”: 100 de-flaggings, 100 insurance revocations, and 100 de-classifications of tankers carrying Iranian oil. Collectively, these actions narrow the pool of available tankers that comprise the “ghost armada” – the fleet of foreign-flagged vessels Iran uses to transport its oil.

Throughout 2022, dozens of maritime authorities and associated entities took action against vessels following information provided by UANI.

The flag authority that revoked the most number of flags due to a vessel’s Iran involvement in 2022 was the Cameroon Ministry of Transport. Cameroon withdrew its flag for a total of 11 vessels throughout 2021.

As in 2021, the classification society that revoked its classification for the most number of vessels due to involvment in Iran was Det Norske Veritas G.L. (DNV), headquartered in Norway. DNV revoked the classification for a total of 12 vessels.

Also as in 2021, the Protection & Indemnity (P&I) club that revoked insurance for the most number of vessels due to Iran involvement was the U.K.’s West of England P&I Club (West), which canceled the insurance for a total of 18 vessels.

In 2022, UANI also launched the following shipping resources:

• Oceans of Deceit: Iran’s Deceptive Shipping Practices and Exploitation of the Maritime Industry, a comprehensive primer aimed at the maritime industry to show the range deceptive tactics Iran uses to evade international sanctions on oil;
• “Uncovering the Chinese Purchasers of Iranian Oil,” a regularly updated catalog of dozens of Chinese buyers, which has to date identified one-third of all barrels going to the Chinese mainland;
• “The Switch List: Tankers Shift From Carrying Iranian Oil to Russian Oil,” a list of tankers that have switched from carrying Iranian oil to Russian, updated monthly;
• “The Maduro-Khamenei Oil Alliance: List of Foreign Flagged Vessels Shipping Iranian and Venezuelan Oil,” a list of tankers suspected of being involved in the transport of both Venezuelan and Iranian oil, updated monthly.

DECEMBER 2022

Looking at the final month of December, oil deliveries increased from November, averaging 1.44 million barrels per day.

Country of Destination	December 2022 - Barrels Per Day (bpd)*	November 2022 - Barrels Per Day (bpd)*	October 2022 - Barrels Per Day (bpd)*
China	1,093,085	1,179,092	973,109
Syria	102,862	57,464	118,751
UAE	0	0	14,927
Venezuela	27,263	0	63,043
Unknown	213,755	54,861	41,293
Total	1,436,966	1,291,417	1,211,123

* Figures to be updated over the following weeks