A giant oil tanker that was detained in China failed its safety inspection on more than 20 counts, highlighting the dangers posed by a rapidly expanding fleet of aging vessels plying the world’s oceans.
The ship, currently named the Titan after being renamed seven times, is managed by a company whose address is a post office box in the Seychelles. While the boat’s owners are difficult to locate, it’s also unclear what insurance the Titan has.
Insufficient documentation, security lapses and murky backgrounds are all too typical of the so-called dark fleet tankers that have proliferated since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Group of Nations sanctions on Russian oil, as well as existing sanctions on Iranian and Venezuelan cargoes, have created a booming trade for these old ships that operate outside Western oversight.
Tanker detentions have increased over the past year amid growing security concerns, with more vessels detained at Asian ports in April than in any other month since at least January 2020. A port in China has stepped up security checks in recent weeks, marking a potential shift in attitude toward the aging ships that have helped deliver a large amount of Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil to the country.
In fact, the Titan — which was built 20 years ago — was stopped in the northeastern port of Qingdao not because it was carrying some 2 million barrels of oil from Iran, but because of the potential danger it presented.
China and other maritime states got a glimpse of those risks earlier this month. About 10 days after leaving the country’s shores, another Dark Fleet ship, the Pablo, exploded off the coast of Malaysia. Although the cause of the explosion is unclear, it is believed that vapors from the remains of the oil cargo may have played a role.
Among Titan’s 23 deficiencies were oil build-up in the engine room and fire safety issues with its inert gas system, the very equipment that helps prevent vapors from exploding. After being detained on April 29, the vessel was released on May 2 and was last seen sailing near Taiwan.
Since 2019, Titan has carried a number of shipments of Iranian crude, according to data intelligence firm Kpler. The ship carried about 16 million barrels of Iranian oil in 2022, according to data from United Against Nuclear Iran, which tracks the country’s crude exports.
Seapalm Shipping Ltd. listed on various maritime databases as the manager, with no other current owner and only the Seychelles post office and a generic email address for contact details. A message to the email address was not immediately answered.
The Titan was last known to be flying the flag of Cameroon, the only state listed as “high risk” by the Paris MoU, an organization that helps ensure safe shipping. Of the 211 ships of various types that Clarkson Research Services sees flying the country’s flag, only seven are less than 10 years old. The youngest oil major is 19 years old.
Unlike the regular merchant fleet, dark tankers often lack industry standard insurance. Titan is not registered with any member of the International Group of P&I Clubs, which offers this coverage.
–With the help of Alaric Nightingale.
