Sanctions-Compliant Tankers Gone Dark
Of the oil- or fuel-laden, sanctions-compliant tankers situated west of the Strait of Hormuz, the following have been offline from AIS for at least 48 hours:
2 VLCCs
3 Suezmax
1 Panamax
Their stated destinations are China, India, and Japan.
#OOTT
Thank you very much Alaric Nightingale of Bloomberg for citing our research in your latest article!
#OOTT #Tankers #Iran
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Of great interest
Ukraine Intensifies Strikes on Russian Navy Assets Across Black Sea Region
www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2...
Just as we have seen in past combat campaigns in #Iran, the #tankers at Kharg Island disperse and head out into various parts of the Iranian EEZ. Yesterday (while the weather was at least decent), we were able to spot and identify most of them. Today is totally cloudy. #OOTT
And finally, "this will be available to all shipping lines" would be an interesting choice by the US as it would imply they would cover ships currently waiting to transit the Strait who are loaded with Iranian oil exports.
None of these preconditions have been met for this plan and it will be far more difficult to meet them in this environment with a government that may not have control over all their assets.
The BSGI was not possible without Ukraine taking back Snake Island and UkriCor is not possible without Ukraine's command of the Western Black Sea due in part to their USV attacks which pushed back the Black Sea Fleet.
Ukraine's Humanitarian Corridor (#UkriCor) works because there was a negotiated, peaceful corridor led by the UN and Türkiye (Black Sea Grain Initiative #BSGI) beforehand that proved the process and gave Ukraine time to learn and secure the area.
A military escort does not ensure safe passage. It has not in the Black Sea and it will not here. This would require intensive ISR and both naval and air support.
Providing military escorts is not easy. I will not go into the details of Ukraine's process in the Black Sea but this is not something you set up overnight, it is manpower intensive and high risk if you are going to do it well. They could copy Ukraine's process.
If you have money it is relatively easy to fund an insurance facility to insure whatever you like. It takes a lot of money and you need the shipping companies to believe you will adhere to your terms which must be reasonable. Let's assume that part goes well.
Regarding President Trump's announcement that the US will create an insurance facility and provide military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz.
This is exactly what Ukraine did and it worked well BUT this was because the conditions were set to allow for it. ⬇️
New video - hot take on Russian LNG tanker Arctic Metagaz burning, presumed sunk/destroyed, in Mediterranean today
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNgL...
"Absolutely ludicrous, these are very very strong vessels."
"So what happened in this case?"
"Well, the front fell off in this case by all means, but it’s very unusual."
Russian BK-16 assault boat (and RSP-10 radar) among assets hit by Ukraine overnight.
We now host a page called "Lost and Found".
It shows the foreign vessels which Iran still hasn't released, and in kind, it also shows the latest sightings and locations of Iranian navy vessels.
We have made them public and there's also API/CSV access.
tankertrackers.com/report/losta...
It will cost money to enforce, but you either spend the money on enforcement or you spend the money to defend yourself after the damage is done. European governments must be honest with the public about the choices they face.
Do the math and get serious.
Not only will this reduce the funds available for Russia and her allies to continue the war in Ukraine, their grey zone actions in the EU and their internal civilian repression but it is the only means to ensure Europe isn't paying the price for shipping disasters.
This statement is a positive first step but as @michellewb.bsky.social and others have said for years, we must see action. It is imperative that Europe and others (Türkiye) act to stop these ships from transiting their waters. Their consistent failure to enforce has forced the situation we have now.
I cannot stress enough how important it is that countries begin to enforce these long-standing laws of the sea. In the past few months we have seen multiple tankers wrecked and abandoned, threatening to cause environmental disasters.⬇️
I'm excited for a chance to talk shipping again, there's a lot going on and it could have big impacts on Ukraine's economy.
🎙️ Tochnyi Weekly
A closer look at the maritime status with @exit266.bsky.social
📣
▶️ Joseph @josephthomason.tochnyi.info
▶️ Erlend @edrotning.tochnyi.info
▶️ GAU @deaidua.org
▶️ Stanimir @delfoo.bsky.social
▶️ Colby
🕒 20:00 Berlin | 21:00 Kyiv | 15:00 NY
Join us:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3ho...
A US-sanctioned tanker carrying a million barrels of Russian crude oil was supposed to reach Venezuela but following the pursuit of BELLA 1 (9230880) halfway across the Atlantic, the tanker turned away and showed up in Syria with her AIS offline.
#OilFindsAWay
Russian Navy Be-12 MAIL flying boat appearing to drop four PLAB 250-120 depth charges (see cat-uxo.com/explosive-ha...) near a vessel, reportedly a Ukrainian USV (maritime drone) in Black Sea. The Be-12s bomb bay is in the rear fuselage (see arrow)
Asking for a Sidewinder welcome?
British drone manufacturer Windracers has unveiled a major endurance upgrade for its dual-use ULTRA unmanned aircraft, enabling flights of up to 2,000 kilometres with heavy payloads, strengthening its role across defence, humanitarian and research missions.
ukdefencejournal.org.uk/?p=65688
Why AI generated images are going to damage quality defence reporting
AI slop is being used by ‘quality’ and ‘fanboy’ defence blogs and news websites as well as mainstream media. It’s terrible news!
A rant 🧵
of greart interest. See www.hisutton.com/Russian-Gera...
Sincere appologies!
While reports of the Iranian vessel are broadly correct, the belows photo appears to be a FALSE AI generated slop image (!).
Rona IMO IMO 8301852 (aka Oban, previously called Winner S and Pomorie), looks like this:
Our fully caffeine-powered AI (Analyst Intelligence) system has now spotted BELLA 1 / MARINERA (9230880) on yesterday's (2026-01-12) satellite imagery captured by the all-seeing eyes of Planet Labs.
In the past Russia would target port infrastructure where civilian ships were alongside and the ships would receive collateral damage. These attacks are different and are intended to cause disruptions to shipping. AT NO TIME HAS UKRAINE EVER TARGETED CIVILIAN AGRICULTURE SHIPS.
