IMPALAS

The vessel has been implicated in the transportation of Iranian oil, in particular transporting more than one million barrels of Iranian oil to China, which it received from the tanker IMO 9418078, sanctioned by the United States on December 19, 2024. Iran’s shadow fleet relies on little-known ship management companies to operate its tanker fleet, which Tehran uses to disguise Iranian oil shipments to China through ship-to-ship (STS) transfers involving sanctioned vessels.
Many tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil to countries such as China are also involved in Venezuelan trade, including tanker IMO 9171448. On June 11, 2022, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi signed a 20-year cooperation agreement to expand ties in the oil and petrochemical industries, as well as in the military and economic spheres. Since then, bilateral ties have begun to develop. Most cargo is transported by ships belonging to the sanctioned National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) in both directions. A significant number of ships flying under foreign (non-Iranian) flags are also involved in this trade.
On May 08, 2025, the United States imposed sanctions on the tanker IMO 9171448.
According to IMO’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) data as of July 14, 2025, the vessel’s registered name is IMPALAS, flag unknown.