A small Iranian tanker carrying sanctioned liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) evaded a US naval blockade and ultimately unloaded its cargo at Xinzhou Port in China, according to a months-long investigation by the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI).
The group identified the vessel as the SOGL, which it says loaded roughly 500,000 barrels of Iranian LPG at Assaluyeh Port, Iran, in late August. The tanker then made its way thousands of miles to a Malaysian offshore anchorage before continuing north into the South China Sea, where UANI says it discharged its Iranian cargo at Xinzhou Port.
UANI covertly filmed the SOGL on Sept. 16 after chartering a supply vessel and traveling 100 nautical miles into the Eastern Outer Port Limits Anchorage (EOPL), an offshore shipping area about 70 kilometers off Malaysia’s coast that has become a key staging point for Iran’s sanctioned energy trade with China.
“This tanker had loaded its Iranian LPG from Assaluyeh Port, Iran, in late August. It then breached the US blockade and made its way to a Malaysian anchorage,” said Jemima Shelley, a senior analyst at UANI, in comments shared with Fox News Digital.
Footage captured by UANI shows the SOGL sitting low in the water while receiving bunkering services from a smaller tanker off Malaysia. Shelley said the vessel skipped the usual ship-to-ship transfer seen at the anchorage and instead sailed directly north.
“After United Against Nuclear Iran’s trip to the EOPL, interestingly, this small LPG tanker SOGL did not conduct a ship-to-ship transfer. Instead, it transited northbound into the South China Sea, where it finally discharged its Iranian LPG at Xinzhou Port in China.”
The US imposed a maritime blockade on Iranian exports on April 13, briefly lifted it in mid-June, then reinstated it July 14 after diplomatic talks broke down. UANI says the blockade has largely halted Iran’s crude oil exports, but at least nine small tankers carrying oil or LPG have still managed to slip past it since the reinstatement.
“The US blockade is an overwhelming success at preventing vessels laden with Iranian oil and petrochemicals from leaving the Gulf of Oman,” Shelley said, adding that “no Iranian crude oil has managed to depart and be a successful export for Iran” since July. “It’s just that there are some opportunistic small tankers that are just managing to breach the blockade.”
According to Shelley, vessels like the SOGL rely on tactics typical of Iran’s so-called ghost fleet: switching off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders, flying false flags to appear stateless, and conducting high-risk ship-to-ship transfers of LPG in the Gulf of Oman before attempting to run the blockade.
The SOGL, with IMO number 9208227, was added to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list on Oct. 8 over its alleged role in transporting Iranian petroleum products since 2025. Records show the ship has flown multiple flags, including Comoros and Zimbabwe, and has been linked to a company called Gravion Maritime Co.
UANI says China remains the overwhelming destination for Iran’s sanctioned oil and LPG exports. “For years, China has made up 80% of Iran’s liquid cargo exports, and we have seen that only grow since the beginning of the Iran War. Now China is importing almost 100% of Iran’s oil and LPG exports,” Shelley said, adding that the arrangement lets China “buy highly discounted Iranian oil and LPG” while helping Tehran dodge sanctions.
Separately, Bloomberg reported that another US-sanctioned LPG carrier, the G Summer, was tracked transmitting signals from the Arabian Sea beyond the American blockade line in April. The vessel broadcast a message indicating it had an “all Chinese crew” aboard, with shipping analytics identifying Iran as its last cargo country and Galle, Sri Lanka, as its reported destination.
Fox News Digital has reached out to US Central Command for comment.
