Mikonos Warrior, Mire: tankers to Kharg, Iran

Nikolas P. Tsakos




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Mr. Tsakos is the sole shareholder of 
Tsakos Energy Management Limited

Peter Fu Chong Cheng

, Kuo International

Elias Gotsis, Eurotankers, Ltd.

The Mykonos Warrior, capable of hauling 1 million barrels, was scheduled to arrive March 8 at Kharg Island, George Vakirtzis, the general manager of Polembros Shipping Ltd., which owns the vessel said. It will load under a contract that is excluded from sanctions agreed to by EU leaders in January, he said by phone from Piraeus, Greece,


Kuo Oil Ltd., the Singapore trader that the U.S. censured in February 2012 for trading with Iran, has booked a fuel-oil shipment from the Persian Gulf nation for loading in March, shipping data show.
Closely held Kuo Oil hired the Mire to load 80,000 tons from Bandar Mahshahr on March 12 for delivery to Singapore, according to four shipbrokers, including a unit of Clarkson Plc (CKN), the world’s largest. The Liberian-flagged vessel is anchored in the northern Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz.


The latest sanctions against Iran have targeted banking, shipping, oil transactions, ports, non- oil trade, gold, petrochemicals and energy ventures, complicating Iran’s commercial ties to the outside world.
Current U.S. law prohibits insurance or reinsurance for refined petroleum sales to Iran. Iran, the second-largest crude oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, has few refineries and imports gasoline. 

Asked whether the American Club may have an exemption from U.S. sanctions, John Sullivan, a U.S. Treasury Department spokesman, said in an e-mail, “I cannot comment on licenses or possible enforcement actions.”


The following table shows tankers scheduled to load crude and oil products from Iran reported so far this month, according to shipbroker reports and data. Volumes are in thousand tons. Some bookings are provisional:


Crude/Condensate
Vessel            Volume   Loading    Discharge
-----------------------------------------------------------
Mykonos Warrior     130    March 9    Mundra
Olympic Faith       130    March 8    Vizag
Fortune Elephant    265    March 3    Onsan
Ruby IV             260    March 3    Taiwan
Green Warrior        80    Feb. 26    New Mangalore
Takamine            265    Feb. 24    China
Xin Tong Yang       265    Feb. 22    China
Maharaja Agrasen    130    Feb. 18    Mumbai
Ocean Odyssey        80    February   East (Condensate)


Oil Products
Vessel            Volume   Loading    Discharge   Cargo
-----------------------------------------------------------
Mire                 80    March 12   Singapore   Fuel oil
Challenge Prospect   35    March 10   Dalian      Naphtha
Brizo                80    February   China       Fuel oil



The Mire loaded crude oil from Nov. 19 to 21, 2011 at the Syrian port of Baniyas 
The Mire, like many international oil tankers, uses American insurance, is registered in Liberia and flies under a Liberian flag. The Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry ordered the Mire's owners to desist from delivering the oil to Iran.   But the owners ignored the order and discharged the shipment in Iran before eventually returning to the United Arab Emirates. 


Liberia issued a notice of violation against the Mire's owner, Eurotankers Inc. of Greece, in accordance with Liberian civil-penalty procedures.    The Treasury Department was able to get the Mire's insurance and registration pulled 

Chariot: and sub K-152 bound for India

Alleged Russian arms ship and Russian nuclear-powered attack sub K-152 are both headed for India. India will become the world's sixth operator of a nuclear-powered submarine next month when Russia's K-152 Nerpa attack vessel reaches the country's shores ahead of its formal induction into the Indian Navy.

The submarine, christened INS Chakra, is expected to reach the Indian shores, with its home base as Visakhapatnam, anytime in March, according to navy officers here.

The other global naval powers operating nuclear-powered submarines are the US, Russia, Britain, France and China.

The attack submarine was handed over to the Indian Navy by Russia at a ceremony in the Far Eastern Primorye territory on Jan 23.

Codenamed Akula-II by NATO, the Project 971 Shchuka-B class vessel will be on a 10-year lease with the Indian Navy till 2022 under a contract worth over $900 million signed in mid-1990.

Under the deal, Russia trained Indian submariners on operating the Nerpa for over a month in the Pacific Ocean ahead of its handing over.

With a displacement of over 8,000 tonnes, the vessel can touch a maximum speed of 30 knots and can operate at a maximum depth of 600 meters.

The vessel can lurk in the deep sea without having to surface for 100 days waiting for its prey to appear and to strike hard at will.

Manned by a 73-member crew, the vessel is armed with four 533mm torpedo tubes and four 650mm torpedo tubes.

The Indian Navy operated a nuclear-powered submarine 1987-1991 when it had a Soviet-origin Charlie class vessel, also named INS Chakra, in its fleet. The submarine was returned to Russia after the three-year lease ended.

Nuclear-powered submarines, being silent killers, are considered key weapon platforms in view of the surprise element in case of an attack. They are an important part of India's nuclear doctrine, as these can help in completing the nuclear-weapon triad or the capability to fire nuclear arsenal from platforms over the land, air, and under the sea.

Though Nerpa was originally scheduled to join the Indian Navy in 2009, an unexpected on-board explosion in November 2008 when it was undergoing sea trials in the Western Pacific by the Russian Navy sailors resulted in the death of 20-odd personnel due to a toxic gas release.

India will add another nuclear-powered vessel to its submarine fleet in the next six to 10 months when the indigenously built INS Arihant that is undergoing trials joins the fleet.

Two more Arihant-class submarines, with miniaturised nuclear reactors designed and developed with Russian help, will join the naval fleet in the next four years.

India currently operates 14 conventional diesel-electric submarines. Of them, 10 are Russian-origin Kilo class vessels and four are German HDW vessels. back

Rena: Pilipino Officers in NZ court on February 29

Captain Mauro Balomanga and second officer of the wrecked cargo ship Rena are set to appear in the Tauranga District Court facing a number of charges relating to the disaster.
The 44-year-old captain and navigation officer, 37, both Filipinos, face charges they "wilfully attempted to pervert the course of justice" by altering the ship's document after the grounding.
The captain faces four charges and the second officer three charges.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment.
The charges were laid under the Crimes Act
They have also been charged with offences under the Maritime Transport Act and Resource Management Act - where the heaviest penalties are two years' prison and a $300,000 fine.
They are due to appear in court on February 29.
The container ship ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef, off the coast of Mt Maunganui, last October 5.Seventy-one containers were recovered this week, bringing the total to 625. Another 17 containers have been located but are yet to be recovered.

Chariot: Russsian alleged arms ship to Gulf

The vessel long anchored and docked at Port Said has now turned on its AIS in the Persian Gulf

[January 12]The cargo ship MV Chariot, flying the St. Vincent and Grenadines flag, was en route from St. Petersburg to the Syrian port of Latakia carrying from 35 to 60 tons of ammunition and explosives meant for the Syrian Defense Ministry.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the ship carried a “dangerous cargo,” but did not elaborate. According to the documents, the cargo sender was the Russian state arms trader Rosoboronexport. “We have, as you know, asked for clarification from the Russian Federation. This was a subject of discussion with the Embassy. It was also raised by Deputy Secretary Burns when he was in Moscow,” Department of State Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.
“Our understanding is that the Russian side continues to look into who was responsible and what happened precisely,” she went on.

NOBLE DISCOVERER: Alaska bound, Greenpeace

On February 26 Lucy Lawless, the actress who played Xena, [--b. 1968, 2011 Hunted: The Demon's Forge (Video Game) Seraphine (voice)] and six other Greenpeace activists illegally boarded a drilling ship leased to Shell Oil off New Zealand's western shore.
Lawless and the other activists have "occupied" the drillship to prevent it from departing on a "6,000 nautical mile journey from New Zealand to the remote Arctic to start an exploratory oil drilling program that threatens to devastate the Alaskan coastline,"
NOBLE DISCOVERER
Length x Breadth: 156 m X 26 m
Gross Tonnage: 13485, DeadWeight: 15296 t
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 5.7 / 5.4 knots
Flag: Liberia [LR]
Call Sign: A8XM6
IMO: 6608608, MMSI: 636014934

Ex Names History
Vessel's Name Flag Call Sign Last Reported
NOBLE DISCOVERER Liberia A8XM6 2012-02-25 22:48
FRONTIER DISCOVERER Panama 3FUS2 2010-08-17 07:17
DISCOVERER 511 2001-08-29 00:00
OFFSTAR 1982-04-18 00:00
JESSICA 1973-12-31 00:00
MATSUSHIRO MARU 1971-12-31 00:00
Rig Data: Noble Discoverer
Rig Name: Noble Discoverer
Rig Manager: Noble Drilling
Rig Owner: Noble Drilling
Competitive Rig: Yes
Rig Type: Drillship
Drillship Type: Turret Moored
Rig Design: Sonat Discoverer Class Rated Water Depth: 2,500 ft
Drilling Depth: 20,000 ft

Leila: RO/RO hijacked

“A group of pirates hijacked a new vessel this week. The pirates contacted their friends in the Ceel-Dhanaae area after they had hijacked the vessel.

the vessel has not yet arrived at the Somali coast, now in Yemeni waters operating as a mother ship.

Hijackings of Ro/Ro vessels are extremely rare, as the vessels' high freeboards (the distance from the water line to the deck) prevent pirates from easily boarding them.

MV Leila's last known position was at 16.47 N-056.15E, the eastern entrance to the Gulf of Aden, on a course of 260 at 4 Knots, according to MSCHOA.
Leila 7302794 LEILA HOBF Ro-Ro 1357 1973
Class society: International Register Of Shipping
Build year: 1973
Builder*: Ateliers & Chantiers Du Havre
Le Havre, France Owner: New Port Cargo & Shipping
Dubai, United Arab Emirates Manager: New Port Cargo & Shipping
Dubai, United Arab Emirates Name: Leila IMO: 7302794 Flag: Panama MMSI: 352723000 Callsign: HOBF
Former name(s):
- Hana Ii (Until 2005 May 18)
- Contender (Until 2002 Jun 27)
- Indiana I (Until 1990 Sep 10)
- Indiana (Until 1988 Jul 03)
- Ferruccio (Until 1986 Jul 13)
- Antinea (Until 1982 Dec 14)
The 1973 built rust-bucket is apparently in a very bad shape too and the condition of vessel and crew are deteriorating. [2010]

Shahid Qandi: second Mowj-class Frigate?

The Iranian Navy 'destroyer' Shahid Qandi has docked at Tartous, Syria.
Is this the first we have seen of the supposed new Mowj? Iran: The Construction of the 2nd Mowj by Shahid Tamjidi Marine Industries
The military naval order of battle identified on 18 March 2011 included:
1 x Mowj Class Frigate (under construction)