Then the vessel “disappeared.” Oil tankers don’t just disappear, but they are able turn off their transponders. The Marine Executive earlier this week published a report examining the case, including the legal hassles and the plight off the crew. It now turns out that most of the crew have been able to get back to India, after having been stuck for months aboard the ship. This all happened as the ship was “taking on fuel surreptitiously the day before” and switched off its AIS transponder so it wouldn’t be tracked. According to the website Splash247, the crew had taken the vessel to Iran. Two crew members are in Iran, the report says; 26 others are home.Is that the whole story? A 247-meter-long ship took up its anchor and went to Iran? Reports also indicate the ship was “hijacked.” But hijacked by whom – and why? Is this just a story of a desperate crew sailing the ship to a place off Iran to get away? How did they get back home from Iran between July 5 and 15, during the COVID-19 pandemic?The saga of this ship is particularly complex. Back in May, two Iranians were charged under US export laws relating to helping Iran evade sanctions. They had supposedly created front companies to buy the Gulf Sky, then called Nautic, in September 2019. The ship had been named Maersk Nautica before becoming “Nautic.” Using front companies, such as one called Taif Mining, a payment was made and the ship’s name changed. The US Treasury alleged in May 2020 that Amir Dianat, a member of the IRGC Quds Force, was key to creating the front company that violated US Office of Foreign Assets Control designations. The original Treasury report doesn’t mention the ship, only money laundering laws and weapons smuggling of the IRGC and the $12 million forfeiture. The National in the UAE reported at the time the ties to the Gulf Sky and an Oman-based firm.The story of the “sensational” escape by the crew and the ship being “under arrest” and then “hijacked” to an island off Iran appears to be only the tip of the iceberg of a larger controversy relating to this vessel. Since last year, the Persian Gulf has seen numerous incidents with ships, including the mining of and attacks on six ships in May and June 2019, and Iran’s seizing of the British tanker Stena Impero in July 2019.The recent case indicates that the Gulf Sky made its way several hundred kilometers to Iran unnoticed between July 5 and 14. This comes amid US-Iran tensions – and the fact that the ship is involved in a dispute with US courts may complicate matters.Yesterday, we were asked to see if we could locate a missing tanker. Her name is GULF SKY (9150377). We just found her.Left: Off the coast of Khor Fakkan, UAE, 2020-07-03Right: Yesterday, west of Hormuz Island Iran.Photos by @planetlabs Data by @MarineTraffic #OOTT pic.twitter.com/xlx1iTNCV4
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