US says watching ‘dark fleet’ ship-to-ship oil transfers in Asia waters

The US is paying close attention to the ‘dark fleet’ of tankers carrying restricted oil and doing ship-to-ship transfers in Southeast Asian waters, the State Department’s top energy official said.

Countries in the region need to consider the risks these activities pose, Geoffrey Pyatt, assistant secretary for energy resources, said on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week conference.

“A significant consideration for the maritime states of Southeast Asia is the risks that come from some of these shadow fleet operations, where you have older vessels, often with questionable insurance coverage and uncertain safety records,” he said.

A large cluster of dark fleet tankers has formed off Malaysia’s Johor state over the past year, where they conduct ship-to-ship transfers to mask the origin of cargoes or wait for their next assignment. There have been several incidents involving collisions and an explosion, prompting observers to flag the potential risk of a major spill that could cause an environmental disaster.

Pyatt met with authorities and officials in Singapore during his visit, but hasn’t had direct conversations with the Malaysian government. The group of vessels off the nation’s coast is likely the biggest dark fleet cluster in the world and carries crude from Iran, Venezuela and Russia. Iranian oil heading to China is often rebranded as coming from Malaysia.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told local media earlier this year that there was “not one shred of evidence” that Iranian-linked vessels were doing ship-to-ship transfers near the country.