Malaysia’s maritime agency says Iranian-linked tankers are exploiting “jurisdictional gaps” to conduct ship-to-ship transfers

UANI says there have been 42 ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil conducted in the EOPL area since Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran , starting a war in the Middle East. UANI used satellite imagery to observe the operations.

“Because of Malaysia’s inaction, it is facilitating this business model by Iran and China and dark fleet actors,” senior UANI adviser Charlie Brown said, warning Malaysia is becoming “a facilitator rather than merely a transit point” for illicit activity.

UANI maintains that Malaysia could enforce environmental regulations for advance notification of ship-to-ship transfers, prevent Malaysian companies from providing support to ships involved and require all ships to carry adequate insurance against accidents and oil spills, among other things.