Russian oil tanker hit by U.S. sanctions heading to Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 (Reuters) – A Russian-flagged ship focused by U.S. sanctions and suspected of carrying Iranian oil is heading to Malaysia, transport information confirmed on Monday, amid rising scrutiny of companies linked to Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine.

The Linda, a crude oil tanker recognized in a U.S. Treasury doc detailing sanctions in opposition to Russia, was within the Indian Ocean and was anticipated to reach at Sungai Linggi port on Malaysia’s west coast on Sunday, in line with information from ship monitoring web site MarineTraffic.com.

It was not instantly clear whether or not authorities in Malaysia plan to permit the ship to anchor. Its marine division and international ministry didn’t reply to requests for remark.

U.S. advocacy group United Towards a Nuclear Iran (UANI), which displays Iran-related tanker site visitors by means of ship and satellite tv for pc monitoring, mentioned Linda was transporting Iranian oil transferred from one other ship at sea on Jan. 30.

The vessel had loaded crude oil from an Iranian port 10 days previous to conducting the switch to Linda, UANI’s chief of employees Claire Jungman instructed Reuters, citing satellite tv for pc information.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the knowledge.

The vacation spot of the oil was not identified however it might be transferred to a different ship off Malaysian or Singapore waters, Jungman mentioned.

In response to america, Linda is owned by PSB Leasing, a unit of Russian lender Promsvyazbank, which has additionally been hit by worldwide sanctions.

In an announcement despatched to Reuters, Promsvyazbank mentioned PSB Leasing didn’t personal Linda, including that the vessel was redeemed by its proprietor in April 2021. The financial institution did say who the proprietor was.

French authorities on Saturday seized one other ship, Baltic Chief, that they mentioned was owned by PSB Leasing.

Promsvyazbank has equally denied that its subsidiary owned the vessel. learn extra

Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Enhancing by Martin Petty, Tomasz Janowski and Richard Pullin

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