UANI Update On Suez Rajan Laden With Illicit Iranian Oil

 Calls on Owners and Managers to Announce Results of Review of UANI Research Revealing Iranian Oil Smuggling & Calls for Appropriate Diversion and Seizure of Iranian Oil

(New York, N.Y.) — On February 15, 2022, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) identified the vessel SUEZ RAJAN as having engaged in an illegal smuggling operation through a ship-to-ship (“STS”) transfer with the notorious vessel VIRGO, which was carrying crude oil from Iran’s Kharg Island Terminal (loaded on January 22, 2022) and resulted in the SUEZ RAJAN being laden with approximately 1 million barrels of sanctioned Iranian oil. The SUEZ RAJAN is operated by the UK-based firm Fleetscape a subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management (Oaktree). On the same day, UANI provided specific details on the illicit STS transfer operation, including the location of the SUEZ RAJAN’s STS transfer (1.94881° N, 104.72292° E) to Oaktree, and called on Oaktree to immediately stop the further smuggling activities of the SUEZ RAJAN.

• Since the exposure of the SUEZ RAJAN oil smuggling operation by UANI, the SUEZ RAJAN has not moved from its present location in the Riau Archipelago and has not attempted to deliver the illicit oil to its destination in China, based on satellite imagery used by UANI.
   
• ICYMI the SUEZ RAJAN smuggling operation as revealed by UANI was covered by AP, Reuters, and Lloyd’s List.
   
• On February 17th, Oaktree said it is “cooperating with U.S. government investigators to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter.”
   
• On February 18th, Fleetscape said it is “cooperating fully with the U.S. authorities in a thorough investigation into this matter.”
   
• On February 18th, the Class Society ABS and the UK P&I Club committed to joining U.S. authorities in investigating the matter.
   
• On February 20th, the operator/manager of the SUEZ RAJAN, Greece-based Empire Navigation, committed to a full investigation of the matter and to fully cooperate with U.S. authorities.

UANI calls on Oaktree, Fleetscape, and Empire (the SUEZ RAJAN Parties) to definitively conclude their investigations into this matter by Monday, February 28, 2022, and to make public all such investigations. UANI expects that SUEZ RAJAN Parties and its Captain and crew will ensure the SUEZ RAJAN remains in its current position, and will not secrete the vessel during the pendency of the investigations.

Upon the conclusion of the investigations, UANI calls on the SUEZ RAJAN parties and the SUEZ RAJAN Captain and crew to divert the SUEZ RAJAN to a U.S. port where appropriate enforcement proceedings will administer the smuggled oil.

UANI will continue to work with the SUEZ RAJAN Parties and appropriate related entities, to ensure the appropriate disposition of the SUEZ RAJAN and its smuggled Iranian oil.

UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace stated:  

“The SUEZ RAJAN was caught engaging in an illicit Iranian oil smuggling ship-to-ship transfer. It is now laden with approximately 1 million barrels of sanctioned Iranian oil. The SUEZ RAJAN’s owners, operators, and crew must be fully transparent about the events surrounding this smuggling and sanctions evasion effort. And they must be accountable. We expect and call on the SUEZ RAJAN owners, operators, and crew to work with relevant enforcement authorities to ensure that the sanctioned oil is diverted to an appropriate U.S. port for administration by the U.S. courts. It is their legal and moral responsibility.” 

To read UANI's Iran Tanker Tracking resource, please click here. 

To read UANI’s blog post January 2022 Iran Tanker Tracking, please click here. 

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