Why is China hiding its tankers from trackers ?

**Cujo** · 29-08-2019, 02:02 PM

In early June, a Chinese-owned supertanker abruptly went dark in the Indian Ocean, the tracking system signalling its course apparently deactivated.

It was not the first ship to vanish from the monitors. The deactivation of transponders that generate a unique ID issued to ships by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has become increasingly familiar in recent weeks to the companies that track tankers.

The Trump administration has stepped up its efforts to track tankers linked to China’s biggest state-run oil company in response to signs that the vessels are helping to transport Iranian crude in defiance of US sanctions against Tehran.

“They are hiding their activity,” Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, told the New York Times in July. “They don’t want to broadcast the fact that they have been in Iran, evading sanctions. It’s that simple.”

The case of the Pacific Bravo, which the US had flagged up as a suspected sanctions breaker, is doubly intriguing. After its unique tracker identifying number disappeared, it reappeared more than a month later attached to a ship listed with a different name, changed in an apparently clumsy effort to disguise it.

Other Chinese-owned tankers, several of which are owned by the Bank of Kunlun according to media reports and evidence from tracking companies, have used different tactics. Some have been captured on satellite images interacting with Iranian ships.

The events unfolding on the maritime trade routes point to a wider story, of the increasingly complex convergence of two of the Trump administration’s most pressing foreign policy concerns.

While Washington seeks to block Iranian oil exports as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign to force Tehran to negotiate over its nuclear and security policies, China – which is locked in its own escalating trade war with the US – appears to be throwing Iran a significant lifeline.

Iran for its part has encouraged China. The country’s first vice-president, Eshaq Jahangiri, told a visiting Chinese official recently that Tehran expected Beijing to be more active in buying Iranian oil.

“I think the two issues have been converging for a while,” Ali Vaez, an Iran analyst with the thinktank Crisis Group said.. . “The main reason that China initially complied with the US … policy and significantly reduced oil imports from Iran was because it hoped it could be a card that bore some dividends in the trade negotiations. As soon as those talks ran into dead lock, China turned around and resumed oil imports from Iran.”

Efforts to evade the sanctions have so far been limited, Vaez and other analysts watching the issue closely say the messaging is clear: China “can make or break the US maximum pressure policy”.

China’s change of tack in turn prompted fresh US sanctions in July targeting the Chinese crude oil importer Zhuhai Zhenrong, which accounts for more than 60% of China’s trade with Iran, for “violating US law by accepting crude oil”.

Vaez notes, however, that access to Iranian oil is not simply a question of leverage for China, but reflects its long-term strategic aim not to be complicit in US moves it fears may lead to regime change in Iran.

“China has a complex calculation regarding Iran. It is the only oil-rich country where the US does not have a foothold. From the point of view of China’s energy needs, Iran is very important,” he said. “But on the other hand China has bigger fish to fry with the US with trade negotiations and it needs to balance relations with other oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia.”

Sanam Vakil, a senior researcher at Chatham House, believes the subterfuges currently involved reflect a desire by both China and Iran to avoid an overt confrontation over the issue, as Tehran becomes ever more “creative” about its oil exports.

For Vakil, one of the key takeaways has been the Trump administration’s inability to manage the overlapping crises it has fuelled. “It’s unfortunate for US foreign policy that it has so many interconnected crises. It’s impossible for the US government to meet all of of its objectives,” he said.

Vaez echoes the sentiment, adding that Chinese imports of Iranian oil may also have discrete support in European capitals still committed to keeping the Iran nuclear deal alive despite Washington’s unilateral withdrawal.

“I’m not sure the Trump administration has the bandwidth or the strategic understanding to connect all these dots. That’s why its been own worst enemy. Too many of its main files, including North Korea and Iran, are dependent on how the Trump administration treats China.

“In practice, however, this is an administration which, when offered the opportunity to fight too many fires at same time, will jump at it.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...om-us-trackers

**harrybarracuda** · 29-08-2019, 02:28 PM

Silly question since the answer is in the report:

Iran.

**harrybarracuda** · 08-09-2019, 04:36 PM

Iran is desperate. Here goes the Middle East's answer to Venezuela.

China is planning to invest $280 billion in Iran’s oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors that are being affected by US sanctions, according to Petroleum Economist magazine.

The energy affairs magazine quoted a senior source who was linked to the Iranian Oil Ministry, as stating that this enormous investment represents a key point in a new agreement between the two countries. This was confirmed during Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s visit to China in late August, to present a roadmap for the strategic comprehensive partnership agreement, which concluded in 2016.

According to the magazine, Beijing also pledged to invest $120 billion in Iran’s oil sector and industrial infrastructure.
This vast amount will be disbursed during the first five years of the agreement’s entry into implementation, with possible additional investments in subsequent similar periods, if both parties agree.

In return, Iran will grant Chinese companies the priority right to participate in tenders for any new, frozen or incomplete projects to develop oil and gas fields, as well as all petrochemical projects, including the provision of technology and staff to implement these projects.

This comprises the deployment of up to 5,000 Chinese security officers in Iranian territories to secure Chinese projects, as well as the involvement of other staff and resources in securing oil, gas or petrochemical exports from Iran to China, including those across the Gulf, the source explained.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20...-by-sanctions/

**Cujo** · 08-09-2019, 04:50 PM

Wow. The implications are massive.

**Dragonfly** · 08-09-2019, 05:25 PM

awesome, China and Russia protecting Iran against the evil Pentagon and the cheating mistress, Israel

**harrybarracuda** · 08-09-2019, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by Cujo

Wow. The implications are massive.

Well the main implication is that it keeps the price of crude oil and LNG down, because you can bet the chinkies are getting it on the cheap and that's less they have to buy elsewhere.

Not good for the any of the major producers.

**Bettyboo** · 08-09-2019, 06:16 PM

Might be difficult for the US to invade Iran when the Chinese 'army' is there; at least, a bit inconvenient...

**Cujo** · 08-09-2019, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Well the main implication is that it keeps the price of crude oil and LNG down, because you can bet the chinkies are getting it on the cheap and that's less they have to buy elsewhere.

Not good for the any of the major producers.

That's part of it.
It alters the international geopolitical landscape in all sorts of ways.
How will the yanks respond?

It minimizes their influence and the effects of sanctions.

**harrybarracuda** · 08-09-2019, 08:54 PM

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Might be difficult for the US to invade Iran when the Chinese 'army' is there; at least, a bit inconvenient...

God not that old chestnut again.

**harrybarracuda** · 08-09-2019, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by Cujo

That's part of it.
It alters the international geopolitical landscape in all sorts of ways.
How will the yanks respond?

It minimizes their influence and the effects of sanctions.

Well if they can't stop Iran getting nukes via sanctions, then you can bet Israel will be warming up the F35's...

**Klondyke** · 09-09-2019, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Well if they can't stop Iran getting nukes via sanctions

Strange, as we know, don't the sanctions have a 100% effect?

**jabir** · 10-09-2019, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by Klondyke

Strange, as we know, don't the sanctions have a 100% effect?

US sanctions are unworkable; impose sanctions, then further sanctions on the sanction breakers, then the breaker breakers, can't be policed or enforced so try selective finger pointing which is problematic when your own mates and supporters are in the mix, nobody respects impotence, try a trade war, hope the other side capitulates, but they know you're on the political ropes...and on we go.

**harrybarracuda** · 10-09-2019, 05:57 PM

Originally Posted by jabir

US sanctions are unworkable; impose sanctions, then further sanctions on the sanction breakers, then the breaker breakers, can't be policed or enforced so try selective finger pointing which is problematic when your own mates and supporters are in the mix, nobody respects impotence, try a trade war, hope the other side capitulates, but they know you're on the political ropes...and on we go.

Sanctions are only effective if they are applied across the board.

If the chinkies are feeding Iran money in exchange for cheap oil, of course they aren't going to be as effective.

Anyway, like I said, the joos is warming up the bang bangs.

Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled what he claims was a previously undisclosed Iranian nuclear weapons facility and accused Tehran of destroying the site to hide the evidence.
“This is what I have to say to the tyrants of Tehran,” Netanyahu said. “Israel knows what you’re doing, Israel knows when you’re doing it, and Israel knows where you’re doing it.”
Without providing details, he accused Iran of using the facility near the city of Abadeh to “conductexperiments to develop nuclear weapons”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...pons-facility-

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