Iranian oil tankers are stuck off the coast of Sri Lanka and Malaysia due to US sanctions

About 24 kilometers off the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, about 20 Iranian oil tankers stand stranded, drifting with stalled engines as they run out of food, fuel and fresh water.

In one of the most visible results of the new pressure campaign launched by the United States to subjugate Iran. Dozens of Iranian or Iran-linked tankers, which were involved in the underground trade to deliver sanctioned oil to China, have been stuck in waters near Asian countries such as Sri Lanka and Malaysia since July, when the United States reimposed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Then, in recent weeks, American officials pressured Sri Lanka to prevent local ships from supplying tankers and their crews with supplies, according to Sri Lankan government documents and companies that provide supplies to those ships, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Before the war, ships carrying Iranian oil transported crude to international waters off Malaysia, where they transferred it to other tankers that then transported it to Chinese refineries, in a complex operation designed to evade US sanctions on Iranian oil.

Some of the tankers are Iranian, and others sail under the flags of other countries, but they have been subject to US sanctions because of their participation in such deceptive practices.

The American blockade dealt a blow to this trade. Iranian ships cannot return home, as the recent wave of US sanctions has led to some Asian ports that previously served Iranian tankers now rejecting them for fear of US sanctions, leaving the tankers drifting at sea. The pressure also affected container ships transporting goods such as corn and industrial materials to Iran.

“When they finish their tasks, they park here,” said Charlie Brown, a researcher with the group United Against Nuclear Iran, which organized a trip to international waters off the coast of Malaysia. They do not want to return because of the siege.”

One of the sanctioned tankers anchored there, called Elfa, transported oil from Iran's Khark Island and crossed the Strait of Hormuz in June, according to financial data provider LSEG. It has been lying off Malaysia since it unloaded crude to another ship in a ship-to-ship transfer in August. The sailors on board the “Elva” seemed bored. One of them started dancing when he saw a boat passing by, waving and moving his hips.

Oil analysts expect the last remaining Iranian oil still waiting to be transported to buyers to run out in the coming weeks, with payments to Iran ending by the end of the year. “All revenues drop to zero for Iran by December,” said Homayoun Falakshahi, head of crude oil analysis at Kpler.

Over the past two months, many tankers have left the area off Malaysia for the Indian Ocean and the coast of Sri Lanka, which is closer to Iran and has a record of supplying Iranian ships with fuel, fresh supplies and repair crews.

But in August, the US embassy in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, informed the government that it was tracking 19 Iranian tankers off the country's west coast, and urged officials to tell local port service providers to refuse to support them or risk secondary US sanctions, according to Sri Lankan government documents seen by The Wall Street Journal.

At the same time, many Iranian ships moved away from Sri Lankan territorial waters, and many drifted deeper into the Indian Ocean, shutting down their engines to save fuel, according to ship tracking data and Sri Lankan shipping companies.

When, in early September, two container ships flying the Iranian flag docked at the port of Colombo, the Sri Lankan Ports Authority stated, in a letter seen by the newspaper, that “it is not wise to provide services” to ships flying the Iranian flag due to the risk of US sanctions.

In mid-September, the US Embassy in Colombo conducted a three-day training course attended by more than 40 Sri Lankan officials, during which it presented the risk of US sanctions if shipping agents, fuel suppliers and other service companies “intentionally or unintentionally” provided support to ships subject to sanctions.

“Sri Lanka is located at a strategic intersection of global trade, which brings tremendous opportunities and requires vigilance,” US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Eric Meyer said in a statement in September. He added that the United States is taking decisive measures to eliminate sanctions evasion by “sharing American experience with our Sri Lankan partners.”

Dubai-based tanker shipping agents have approached companies in Sri Lanka to send fresh food and fuel. But representatives of Sri Lankan shipping companies say it has become difficult to obtain approval from port authorities to provide any services to Iranian ships.

The owner of a Sri Lankan ship repair company that sent a team to an Iranian ship just before the new restrictions began said that supplies on board were running low. While repair crews normally eat on board and can wash up there, the tanker's crew asked them to bring their own food and warned them that they could not wash because the ship needed to maintain fresh water, according to a company official.

Another Sri Lankan shipper said he received desperate calls requesting food and supplies from tanker agents, but Sri Lankan authorities were not approving supply visits to Iranian ships.

Tushara Rodrigo, spokesman for the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry, acknowledged the risk that sanctioned ships could run out of food, fuel and water. If ships need emergency supplies, private companies may hesitate to supply tankers and risk sanctions, he said.

Other ships linked to Iran have ventured to waters near India and China. Some of those ships that remained in the waters near Malaysia moved north from an area known as the Eastern Outer Port, where ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil usually took place.

On a recent trip, two small local fishing boats approached the Parnia, an Iranian cargo ship parked off the coast of southeastern Malaysia. Parnia had been stranded there since July when it returned from China loaded with containers, according to ship tracking data.

Sailors on fishing boats are known to move from one ship to another, selling basic supplies such as cigarettes and beer.

Iranian ships were discreet when communicating with them via radio. In response to an inquiry whether there was enough food on board, one of the ships responded succinctly in Persian: “Don’t worry about our food.”