UANI Says Sanctioned Iranian Tanker Carrying 500,000 Barrels of LPG Slipped US Blockade and Reached China

Since the U.S. reinstated its blockade of Iranian ports on July 14, the Navy has choked off Iranian crude exports. New footage and tracking data show the smaller, harder-to-stop LPG trade has not stopped.

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), an advocacy group that tracks Iranian sanctions evasion, says it filmed a sanctioned tanker called the SOGL (IMO 9208227) at a Malaysian offshore anchorage on Sept. 16. The group shared the footage exclusively with Fox News Digital.

The voyage of the SOGL

According to UANI, the Handymax-class tanker loaded about 500,000 barrels of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas at Assaluyeh Port in late August. It got past the blockade and left the Gulf of Oman on Sept. 1, then traveled thousands of miles to the Eastern Outer Port Limits (EOPL) anchorage, about 70 kilometers off Malaysia's coast.

UANI says it chartered a supply boat and ran roughly 100 nautical miles out to the anchorage on Sept. 16. There it filmed the SOGL taking on fuel and services. The group says the ship then sailed north through the South China Sea and discharged at Xinzhou Port in China.

"This tanker had loaded its Iranian LPG from Assaluyeh Port, Iran, in late August. It then breached the U.S. blockade and made its way to a Malaysian anchorage," said Jemima Shelley, a senior UANI analyst.

The account is UANI's. Fox News said it had asked U.S. Central Command for comment. But the Treasury Department did sanction the SOGL on Oct. 8, three weeks after the filming, as one of 17 shadow fleet vessels.

Treasury said the Comoros-flagged tanker, owned by Marshall Islands-based Gravion Maritime Company, "has transported more than two million barrels of Iranian propane/butane since September 2025." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action was aimed at starving the Iranian regime of the money it uses to wage war in the region.

Crude is held, small LPG tankers are not

UANI's findings cut both ways. The group says the blockade is working on crude. Shelley said no Iranian crude has successfully left the region for export since the blockade returned in July.

The leaks are small vessels. "Most vessels aren't, but since the reinstatement in mid-July, we have seen only nine small tankers being successful in their breach of the U.S. blockade and departing the Gulf of Oman laden with oil or LPG," Shelley said. UANI's Oct. 29 shipping update put the number of small tankers carrying Iranian LPG that have passed the blockade line at around nine.

Shelley said those tankers use familiar ghost fleet methods. They switch off their AIS transponders and often fly a false flag so they appear stateless.

Shelley described the EOPL anchorage as a critical staging ground for Iran's sanctioned energy trade with China. Ships can wait offshore, take on supplies and transfer cargo between tankers, which gives Iranian exports a logistical lifeline while American naval forces patrol closer to Iran.

Why the small ships get through

The blockade was first imposed April 13, paused in mid-June, and reinstated July 14 after diplomatic talks collapsed. U.S. forces are mainly focused on crude oil and very large tankers, which can carry around two million barrels each, Shelley said.

The SOGL's 500,000-barrel cargo is a quarter of that. It is also a different kind of cargo. LPG is a flammable blend of propane and butane used for heating, cooking, transport and industry.

Shelley said U.S. forces typically try to turn vessels around. She said using military force against a ship loaded with LPG could be especially dangerous. She described the ship-to-ship transfers these tankers use in the Gulf of Oman as very high risk because the cargo is LPG, not crude oil.

Where it fits in the larger standoff

Shelley said China now takes almost all of Iran's oil and LPG exports, up from about 80% of Iran's liquid cargo exports in earlier years. She also called the EOPL anchorage a key node in Iran's oil trade to China and suggested Malaysian authorities appear to be looking the other way.

Treasury's Oct. 8 designation of 17 vessels shows the tanker's owner and the ship itself are now formally targeted. Sanctions do not physically stop a ship, though. The SOGL's reported route ran through a Malaysian anchorage and ended at a Chinese port, both far from the U.S. naval patrols near Iran.

The LPG danger Shelley described is the constraint on the blockade. Until that changes, a ship with a few hundred thousand barrels of gas can still turn off its transponder and take its chances in the Gulf of Oman.