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A
“ghost ship” oil tanker carrying approximately US$100 million of disputed Iraqi
Kurdish crude oil has reappeared on satellite imagery near the US coast Monday,
after disappearing for several days. The tanker seems not to have offloaded its
oil.
According
to the US Coast Guard and Reuters, the tanker, United Kalavrvta, is still 95
percent full and has not yet unloaded its cargo. The vessel was anchored Monday
in the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area, close to its previously known
position.
The
Iraqi government has deemed this shipment of Kurdish crude oil illegal. Baghdad
filed a lawsuit in the US in June, preventing any purchaser from unloading the
Kurdish shipment.
When
Iraq’s government initially filed the law suit, US District Judge Nancy K.
Johnson ordered the seizure of the tanker’s US$100 million payload, but only if
the tanker entered the territorial waters of the US.
This
isn’t the first time Kurdish oil tankers have switched off their electronic
transponders to avoid detection – essentially making their movements impossible
to track.
Approximately
a week ago, a Kurdish tanker carrying crude disappeared from satellite tracking
north of Egypt’s Sinai, only to reappear empty two days later near Israel.
As
recently as June, Iraq’s central government made an attempt at illegalizing
Kurdish oil sales but it was ultimately rejected by Iraq’s Supreme Court.
Kurds
have argued that the sale of their crude is essential to their dreams of an
independent Kurdistan – while the US State Department has publicly backed
Baghdad’s stance.
Given the recent violence
and uncertainty in Iraq, this makes for a hard decision for both the stranded
tanker and its would-be US buyer.
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