Iranian ‘ghost fleet’ filmed evading US blockade en route to China, UANI says

A series of sanctioned Iranian tankers have successfully evaded a United States naval blockade to deliver energy resources to China. According to reports from Fox News and UANI, this activity involves a so-called ghost fleet that was filmed while bypassing the blockade. The shipments consist of significant volumes of energy products, with WANA News Agency reporting that an Iranian oil tanker arrived in China carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil. Additionally, UA.NEWS reports that the vessel SOGL delivered 500,000 barrels of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Chinese ports. Coverage of these events is being tracked by multiple international and specialized news outlets.

Fox News specifically highlights the role of UANI in providing the evidence of the evasion via film. OilPrice.com reports on the successful delivery of the cargo despite the presence of the U.S. blockade, while IranWire focuses on the ability of the Iranian tankers to bypass naval restrictions to transport gas to China. These reports collectively emphasize a pattern of sanctioned vessels utilizing stealth or evasion tactics to maintain energy trade routes between Iran and China. The context of this trend centers on the ongoing tension between U.S. sanction enforcement and Iranian energy exports. The term ghost fleet refers to the network of tankers used to move sanctioned oil and gas, often by disabling tracking systems or using deceptive practices to avoid detection.

This latest breach of the naval blockade demonstrates the persistence of these trade channels and the scale of the shipments, which include both crude oil and LPG, impacting the effectiveness of U.S. naval efforts to prevent Iranian energy from entering global markets through China. Future developments to watch involve the response from U.S. naval authorities following the filmed evasion of the blockade. Because the cargo has already been delivered, attention will likely shift toward the specific tactics used by the ghost fleet and the SOGL tanker to slip past monitors. Coverage does not yet specify if further shipments are currently en route or if new sanctions will be applied to the vessels involved. Observers will be monitoring whether the U.S. adjusts its blockade strategy in response to the 2 million barrels of crude and 500,000 barrels of LPG successfully transported.