Mikonos Warrior, Mire: tankers to Kharg, Iran

Nikolas P. Tsakos




 |

Mr. Tsakos is the sole shareholder of 
Tsakos Energy Management Limited

Peter Fu Chong Cheng

, Kuo International

Elias Gotsis, Eurotankers, Ltd.

The Mykonos Warrior, capable of hauling 1 million barrels, was scheduled to arrive March 8 at Kharg Island, George Vakirtzis, the general manager of Polembros Shipping Ltd., which owns the vessel said. It will load under a contract that is excluded from sanctions agreed to by EU leaders in January, he said by phone from Piraeus, Greece,


Kuo Oil Ltd., the Singapore trader that the U.S. censured in February 2012 for trading with Iran, has booked a fuel-oil shipment from the Persian Gulf nation for loading in March, shipping data show.
Closely held Kuo Oil hired the Mire to load 80,000 tons from Bandar Mahshahr on March 12 for delivery to Singapore, according to four shipbrokers, including a unit of Clarkson Plc (CKN), the world’s largest. The Liberian-flagged vessel is anchored in the northern Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz.


The latest sanctions against Iran have targeted banking, shipping, oil transactions, ports, non- oil trade, gold, petrochemicals and energy ventures, complicating Iran’s commercial ties to the outside world.
Current U.S. law prohibits insurance or reinsurance for refined petroleum sales to Iran. Iran, the second-largest crude oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, has few refineries and imports gasoline. 

Asked whether the American Club may have an exemption from U.S. sanctions, John Sullivan, a U.S. Treasury Department spokesman, said in an e-mail, “I cannot comment on licenses or possible enforcement actions.”


The following table shows tankers scheduled to load crude and oil products from Iran reported so far this month, according to shipbroker reports and data. Volumes are in thousand tons. Some bookings are provisional:


Crude/Condensate
Vessel            Volume   Loading    Discharge
-----------------------------------------------------------
Mykonos Warrior     130    March 9    Mundra
Olympic Faith       130    March 8    Vizag
Fortune Elephant    265    March 3    Onsan
Ruby IV             260    March 3    Taiwan
Green Warrior        80    Feb. 26    New Mangalore
Takamine            265    Feb. 24    China
Xin Tong Yang       265    Feb. 22    China
Maharaja Agrasen    130    Feb. 18    Mumbai
Ocean Odyssey        80    February   East (Condensate)


Oil Products
Vessel            Volume   Loading    Discharge   Cargo
-----------------------------------------------------------
Mire                 80    March 12   Singapore   Fuel oil
Challenge Prospect   35    March 10   Dalian      Naphtha
Brizo                80    February   China       Fuel oil



The Mire loaded crude oil from Nov. 19 to 21, 2011 at the Syrian port of Baniyas 
The Mire, like many international oil tankers, uses American insurance, is registered in Liberia and flies under a Liberian flag. The Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry ordered the Mire's owners to desist from delivering the oil to Iran.   But the owners ignored the order and discharged the shipment in Iran before eventually returning to the United Arab Emirates. 


Liberia issued a notice of violation against the Mire's owner, Eurotankers Inc. of Greece, in accordance with Liberian civil-penalty procedures.    The Treasury Department was able to get the Mire's insurance and registration pulled