St Nikolas (ship)

Seizure of the oil tanker *Suez Rajan*
Seizure of the oil tanker Suez Rajan
Location	70 miles (110 km) from Galveston, Texas
Date	April 2023
Executed by	United States Coast Guard

The oil tanker St Nikolas (formerly Suez Rajan) has been involved in two geopolitically prominent seizures, by the United States and Iran. In April 2023 the Greek-managed Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Suez Rajan was seized by US authorities, for breaching US sanctions against Iranian oil, which fell under US jurisdiction due to the use of US financial services. The US then confiscated and sold the carried Iranian oil.

In January 2024, while the ship (since renamed St Nikolas) was carrying oil from Iraq to Turkey through the Gulf of Oman, Iranian soldiers boarded and seized the ship in accordance with an Iranian court order.

US seizure

The Marshall Islands-flagged Suez Rajan, carrying Iranian-grade crude oil,^[1] was seized in April 2023 by the US Department of Justice.^[2] The Suez Rajan was carrying about 800,000 barrels of oil, a cargo worth about $56 million.^[3] The US justification for the seizure was violation of US sanctions on Iran's oil exports, and the US said the Suez Rajan scheme "attempted to disguise the origin of the oil using ship-to-ship transfers". Suez Rajan Ltd., the owner of the ship, pleaded guilty and was fined $2.5 million. The US claimed ownership of the confiscated oil.^[4] As the original payment to Iran for the Iranian oil was done using US dollar transaction wire transfers, without a license issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury, the US could claim jurisdiction under US law.^[5]

The specific attempt at obfuscating the origin of the Iranian oil involved first taking on a small amount of oil from the oil tanker CS Brillance. And then a few days later taking on a large amount of oil from the oil tanker Virgo, but falsifying the logs to say that all the oil on board had come from the CS Brillance. While the US trial was under way, the Suez Rajan was anchored near Singapore for nearly a year.^[6] The loading operation from CS Brillance took place at the Tanjung Pelepas Port in Malaysia on February 4, 2022, while the loading operation from Virgo took place in at the EOPL anchorage off Singapore on or about February 5 or 6, 2022. The Voyage Instructions indicated that the final discharge port for the crude oil was "CHINA FOR ORDER".^[7] After the successful conclusion of the civil forfeiture action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Suez Rajan was ordered to sail to Houston.^[6]

On 29 May 2023 the Suez Rajan arrived offshore of Galveston and remained at anchor some 70 miles (110 km) from the Texas port. The vessel had a Greece-based manager.^[8] The US companies that managed unloading tankers were too worried about Iranian reprisal to handle the captured oil on the Suez Rajan.^[9]^[10]^[11] The shipping companies fear any vessel unloading it would lead other oil buyers to shun their ships on future voyages.^[12]

Aftermath

Alireza Tangsiri, the Guards' navy commander, emphasised Tehran would hold Washington responsible for allowing the unloading of the tanker's content.^[13] He said Iran would retaliate against any oil company unloading Iranian oil from a seized tanker.^[12]

On 29 April 2023 the Iran Navy seized a Marshall Islands flagged Suezmax tanker, the Advantage Sweet, laden with oil from Kuwait and bound for Houston, off Muscat. It appeared that the vessel managers were Turkish and the owner was Chinese.^[14] This seizure was in response to the U.S. seizing the Iran-origin cargo on the Suez Rajan off southeast Malaysia earlier in the month, which was then sailing to the US.^[15]^[16]

Iranian seizure

On 11 January 2024, four to five members of the Iranian Navy boarded and took control of the Marshall Islands-flagged, Greek-operated civilian oil tanker Suez Rajan (since renamed St Nikolas).^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20] The course of the oil tanker was altered towards the coast of Iran after the capture.^[18] The oil tanker at the time was reported to have been carrying 145,000 short tons (132,000 t) of crude oil from Iraq to Turkey.^[18]^[21] St Nikolas had a crew of 18 Filipinos and one Greek national.^[17]

An Iranian court had ordered the seizure of the ship to recover the losses suffered by Iran when the US confiscated Iranian oil in 2023.^[22] Iran has described the ship as an 'American oil tanker'.^[19]

References

^ "Sanctions stigma proves troubling for shipowners lightering Iranian crude off USGC". spglobal.com. 16 Jun 2023.
^ "US failing to sell seized Iranian oil sitting in Gulf of Mexico – report". The Jerusalem Post. 19 July 2023. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023.
^ Palma, Stefania; Cook, Chris; Schwartz, Felicia (11 June 2023). "US expected to begin unloading oil from seized Iranian tanker". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023.
^ "US Confirms April Seizure of Iran Oil Shipment". voanews.com. 8 September 2023. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
^ "First ever corporate criminal resolution involving the sale of Iranian oil in violation of US sanctions". Willkie Compliance.
^ ^a ^b "Using a New ID, Suez Rajan, Tanker in Iranian Forfeiture Case, Departs U.S." The Marine Executive. Archived from the original on 2024-01-11. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
^ "UNITED STATES' VERIFIED COMPLAINT FOR FORFEITURE IN REM" (PDF). UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-01-11. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
^ "Why did Iran seize a US-bound oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman?". Al Jazeera. 29 Apr 2023. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023.
^ "Iranian Oil Is Stuck Off Coast of Texas, but U.S. Firms Won't Touch It". The Wall Street Journal. 18 July 2023. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023.
^ "US Won't Touch Seized Iranian Oil Amid Companies' Fear Of Reprisals". Iran International. 18 July 2023. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023.
^ "Iranian oil remains stuck off US coast as shippers fear repercussions". Reuters. 25 July 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-08-13.
^ ^a ^b "Lawmakers urge Biden to resolve offloading delay of seized Iran oil tanker". Reuters. 16 August 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-08-18.
^ "Iran warns against unloading Iranian oil from seized tanker". Reuters. 20 July 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-08-13.
^ "Iran Navy Seizes Marshall Islands Oil Tanker in Gulf of Oman". VOA News. Associated Press. 27 April 2023. Archived from the original on 9 May 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
^ "US seizure of Iran cargo on Greek tanker behind Advantage Sweet hijack". Lloyd's List Intelligence. 28 April 2023. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
^ Eric Priante Martin (25 May 2023). "Seized tanker watch: Suez Rajan appears headed to Gulf Coast with suspected Iranian cargo". TradeWinds. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
^ ^a ^b Gambrell, Jon (11 January 2024). "Iran's navy seizes oil tanker in Gulf of Oman that was at the center of a major US-Iran crisis" (News article). AP News. Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Associated Press. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Choukeir, Jana; Elimam, Ahmed (11 January 2024). "Iran seizes oil tanker involved in US-Iran dispute in Gulf of Oman – state media" (News article). Reuters. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Iran confirms its navy seized 'US oil tanker' in Gulf of Oman as tensions with US heat up". The New Arab. 11 January 2024. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
^ Salem, Mostafa; Pourahmadi, Adam. "Iran seizes oil tanker in Gulf of Oman". KAKE (TV). American Broadcasting Company and CNN. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
^ Armstrong, Kathryn (11 January 2024). "Iran seizes oil tanker St Nikolas near Oman" (News article). BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
^ "Iran's navy seizes oil tanker in Gulf of Oman that was at the center of a major US-Iran crisis". AP. 11 January 2024. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.

Sources

Gambrell, Jon (2024-01-11). "Iran's navy seizes oil tanker in Gulf of Oman that was at the center of a major US-Iran crisis". AP News. Retrieved 2024-06-02. The St. Nikolas was earlier named the Suez Rajan, […]
Choukeir, Jana; Elimam, Ahmed; Harvey, Robert (2024-01-15). "Iran seizes oil tanker involved in U.S.-Iran dispute in Gulf of Oman". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-06-02. The U.S. seized the St Nikolas […] when it sailed under a different name, Suez Rajan.
Salem, Mostafa; Pourahmadi, Adam (2024-01-11). "Iran seizes oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman". CNN. Retrieved 2024-06-02. A maritime monitoring website, Tanker Trackers, said the vessel seized Thursday was […] named St Nikolas, formerly known as the Suez Rajan.
"Iran confirms it was behind tit-for-tat seizure of tanker off Oman". Lloyd's List. 2024-01-11. Retrieved 2024-06-02. The suezmax [sic] St Nikolas, formerly known as Suez Rajan, […]