US blacklists tanker linked to Houthi financial supporter

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has blacklisted a tanker for transferring oil linked to a Houthi financial facilitator from Iran to China.

The 160,400 dwt tanker Lady Sofia, owned by Marshall Islands-registered shipping company Vishnu Inc., was involved in illicit shipments to China in support of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and Houthi financial supporter Sa’id Al-Jamal, who is sanctioned by US counterterrorism authorities.

The 2001-built tanker engaged in a ship-to-ship transfer with another sanctioned vessel, the 150,900 dwt Mehle, on January 31, 2024, which hid the transfer via spoofing – a way of masking the vessel’s true location. Disguised as a fictitious vessel named Amor and incorrectly broadcasting its location as the South China Sea, the 1999-built tanker offloaded its illicit cargo to the Vishnu-owned vessel near Singapore. The Lady Sofia is currently travelling to China, carrying Iranian oil on behalf of Al-Jamal.

The Department of the Treasury said that Al-Jamal has been under sanctions since 2021 for assisting, sponsoring, or financing the Qods Force which, in turn, has been under sanctions since 2007 for providing support to multiple terrorist groups. Cielo Maritime, the owner of the Mehle, has been under sanctions since January this year because of its connections to Al-Jamal. Due to this oil transfer, the US Treasury has added Vishnu Inc. to the list of companies under sanctions.

“We remain committed to disrupting the IRGC-QF and the Houthis’ attempts to evade US sanctions and fund additional terrorist attacks. The United States will continue to target the key funding streams that threaten civilians and peaceful international trade,” said Brian E. Nelson, the under-secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.