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Tanker accused of deliberately polluting coast of Israel

The environmental ministry of Israel has accused Iran of deliberately dumping several thousand tonnes of crude oil from the 'Emerald' in its economic waters between Feb 1 and 2, 2021, polluting more than 100 miles of Mediterranean coastline. It identified the tanker as being responsible for the spill after a two-week investigation that narrowed the list of potential culprits from a list of 35 initial suspects. The tanker was sold in December and reflagged to Panama from Malta. The new owner of Emerald was named as Oryx Shipping Ltd, according to a spokesman from the prior owner, Libya’s state-owned General National Maritime Transport Co. The Oryx Shipping Ltd. was traced to a Piraeus-based company with Syrian links, said to be owned by Luay Mallah. The vessel then loaded a Syria-bound cargo of 90,000 tonnes of crude in Iran. The ministry pinpointed the 'Emerald' on the basis of laboratory tests, satellite tracking and a process of elimination to match crude that washed up on Israel’s beaches from Feb 17. Underscoring Iran’s connection with the tanker, protection and indemnity insurance, providing liability for bunker and oil spills was the UAE-based Islamic P&I Club, which is solely used by Iranian shipowners that cannot find cover elsewhere. Records provided to the flag registry listed the Marshall Islands single-ship company Emerald Marine Ltd. as the anonymous, untraceable owner. The 'Emerald' is part of a fleet of some 130 elderly tankers totalling 19.5 million dwt purchased over the last 18 months by disparate, anonymous owners for immediate deployment in US-sanctioned trades that operate beyond the reach of authorities. The tanker’s AIS was switched off as it sailed through the Gulf and the Red Sea, briefly resuming to transit the Suez Canal before it again went dark late on Feb 1. According to Israel the tanker then entered Israel’s economic waters to deliberately dump some of its crude cargo during the 24-hour period the AIS was switched off, before reappearing off Syria’s coast. The Israeli investigation claimed that the 'Emerald' unloaded the remainder of the crude oil it was carrying onto other vessels via ship-to-ship transfers and sailed back to Iran. Satellites discovered two more oil stains between Cyprus and Syria, in the area the ship had sailed according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection. “The vessel returned to Iran again, again in the ‘dark’ when it entered Israel’s economic waters; it stayed that way until it reached a port in Iran, where it is currently anchored.” The Israeli authorities would contact 'Emerald'’s insurers to ensure that the state of Israel receives compensation from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds.