The High-Seas Black Market That Keeps Iran’s Illicit Oil Flowing

In early May, when the Journal chartered a supply boat to visit the area, it resembled a giant tanker parking lot, with dozens of ships.

Between 2023 and 2025, the number of observed ship-to-ship transfers in the EOPL more than doubled, from 280 to 679, according to United Against Nuclear Iran, or UANI, a U.S.-based advocacy group that uses satellite data to track them, which cited strong Chinese demand.

“This is a critical logistics node,” said Charlie Brown, a former U.S. naval officer based in Singapore who works for UANI. “China cannot get its oil from Iran without going through the EOPL.”

After the Journal reporter saw the ship this month, satellite images captured the Nora in another ship-to-ship transfer. This time, it was on the receiving end, offloading oil from the Iran-flagged Derya, one of the last tankers to cross the Strait of Hormuz around the time the blockade began.

It was proof, yet again, said Brown, the researcher at UANI, that “sanctions alone don’t stop the ships.”