A strange, complicated case, starring the Marinakis family, the US authorities and Iranian terrorist organisations, came to light earlier this year. A tanker owned by the Marinakis shipping company was caught by the US transporting 2 million barrels of Iranian oil, in violation of the US anti-terrorism law.
According to the official documents of the American investigation, the proceeds of millions of dollars worth of merchandise would end up in the pockets of terrorists. Behind the cargo, and amidst a complex web of companies, ships and forged documents, are the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran and its branches, which the US has officially designated as terrorist organisations. A serious question that has arisen is how such a large shipping company as the Marinakis Group did not know the true identity of the shipping company it partnered with to transport the oil.
The story began to unfold on 26 January 2021, when the news agency Bloomberg published a report in which it referred to an attempt by the US authorities to seize more than 2 million barrels of Iranian oil from the tanker Achilleas, owned by Capital Ship Management Corp. and operated by the Marinakis family.
The same article stated that the tanker itself had reportedly informed the US that it was possibly carrying oil from Iran although it believed it came from Iraq. Again according to information cited in the report, the Achilles« tracking system had been disabled for several days in January. The news became known in Greece, although only a few media reported it. But let's look at the facts chronologically, according to the US investigation attached to the announcement issued by the US Department of Justice on 3 February.
Oil «terrorists»
On 2 February 2021, the US files in the relevant courts, complaint of seizure of the cargo of the tanker «Achilleas», in the interests of the Marinakis family, flying the Liberian flag and not the Greek flag. The US authorities point out that the oil in question originates from Iran and is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran (IRGC) and its branches (IRGC Quds Force - IRGCQF).
The proceeds from the sale of oil would be returned to the pockets of terrorist organisations, always according to the Americans, in order to support their illegal activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, other terrorist projects, human rights violations, etc.
The investigation conducted by HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) and the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) proves that the barrels loaded by the tanker of Marinakis' company came from oil terminals in Iran. The barrels in question were originally loaded onto two Suezmax tankers associated with the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) and the US-designated terrorist organization IRGC-QF. These used forged documents, shadowy means and techniques, in order to conceal the original source of the oil and ultimately benefit the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran and its offshoots.
How the business was done
Sometime on 29 May 2020, the tanker «Sarak» loaded at the oil terminal of Siri Island in Iran part of the barrels eventually seized by the tanker «Achilles». The ship is listed on the relevant US lists as part of the large network of ships managed by the IRGC-QF and former Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Ghassemi. A confidential source confirms the same.
On 23 June 2020, another tanker, the Sonia I, loaded another part of the cargo detected on the Achilles from an oil terminal on Iran's Hark Island in the Persian Gulf. This ship also ended up through a network belonging to the NITC and was already on the American red lists.
On the same day, the Iranian-flagged supertanker «Humanity» steals the data and the Automatic Identification System (AIS) of the ship «Lubov». Forging AIS means that you can relay false data about the ship you are actually on, such as its name, location, etc. Humanity had already closed its own AIS since 12 June, with the last reference point being the Gulf of Oman. What does the real «Lubov» do? On 26 and 27 June it is loading oil from the two ships («Sarak», «Sonia I»). The process was completed on 28 June with the Lubov sailing towards the Gulf of Oman where the Humanity was located and the AIS of the two ships returning to reality.
From 1 July to 18 August, the «Lubov» was simply anchored in the Gulf of Oman without loading or unloading any other cargo. Starting around 19 August, it unloaded all the oil on board the Panamanian-flagged tanker «Trident Liberty». The transfer was reportedly completed within five days. The Trident Liberty then gave information that it was fully loaded with 2 million barrels, which was received by the tanker Lubov.
This brings us to October 14, 2020, when the company operating the tanker Achilles enters into a contract with the alleged charterer Fujairah International Oil and Gas Company (FIOGC). This company is managed by Benchmark Ship Management. According to the US document, it is a shell company set up by the IRGC-QF to illegally traffic Iranian oil. FIOGC was in charge of running the business for them. All this is taking place in the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates, in the port of Fujairah.
The agreement therefore provides for the transport of «light crude oil from the Iraqi port of Basra to China». FIOGC provides forged documents to the company of Marinakis« interests that the »Lubov« was loaded with barrels of oil coming from Iraq's second largest city. On 4 November the »Trident Liberty« starts to tranship the entire quantity of oil to the tanker »Achilles'. The process was completed on the 17th of the same month.
On December 20, the chief operating officer of Capital Ship Management, Prokopis Helium contacted Al Bahar Marine Services LLC and the person in charge from the charterer of the «Achilles», requesting «urgent confirmation and arrangements with the Fujairah Port Authority, the head of the port so that the “Achilles” can depart without further delay and failure».
The charterer's manager informed the manager of Achilles of two things. Firstly, that he should receive instructions from the charter company to arrange the departure of the tanker. Secondly, that the Marinakis side should contact the charterer in order to instruct the manager to give permission for departure. A series of emails followed. This brought us to 2 February, the day on which the US issued the seizure notice for the 2 million barrels of Achilles.
Iranian oil transfer again
It should be noted that in the past, tankers of Marinakis shipping group interests have loaded and transported oil from Iranian terminals. This seems to have displeased and even angered the US authorities, especially in 2020, while the Trump administration's ban was already in force. At the same time, several European countries have complied with US sanctions against Iran.
According to reports, the «Achilleas» was the tanker that first brought the first Iranian crude oil cargoes in April 2016 to Greece and specifically to the refineries of HELPE. The cargo was about 1 million barrels of Iranian crude, although the supply was not directly from the Iranian oil company NIOC but through the French company Total, from which the tanker of Greek interests had been chartered.
At that time, the problems with the restrictions still in place on banking transactions with Iran had not been resolved. According to the website ifmat.org, which is allegedly run by Iranian groups opposed to Tehran's theocratic regime, several ships owned by Greek shipowners are allegedly involved in oil smuggling from Iran to the rest of Asia despite the current US sanctions.
The response of the Marinakis side
Documento addressed the Marinakis side by asking a series of questions, for which we did not receive specific answers. But according to legal sources on the Marinakis side, there is nothing objectionable in this case. As the same sources told the newspaper, the US authorities have not imposed any sanctions on the companies of the Marinakis group.
