Ceres I path in the South China Sea from June 1 to Aug. 22

ASIA
‘Dark’ tanker crash exposes dangers of China’s thirst for cheap oil

By Rebecca Tan, Pei-Lin Wu and Júlia Ledur
September 2, 2024 at 1:00 a.m. EDT

SINGAPORE — A crude oil tanker traveling from Iran made a delivery to the Chinese port city of Ningbo two months ago before heading back toward the Middle East. The Ceres I had made this round trip several times in the past year, according to ship tracking data. But it didn’t complete this voyage.

The Ceres I and another tanker collided off Malaysia in the South China Sea on July 19, causing significant damage to both vessels. Malaysian authorities said the Ceres I had experienced “technical difficulties.” But shipping and energy analysts say the pattern of the vessel’s movements before the collision suggest another explanation: The Ceres I had been broadcasting a fake location on ship locator channels.

Among groups that track ship movements, the Ceres I was widely known to be part of a “dark” fleet of tankers operating outside international regulations to feed China’s appetite for sanctioned crude oil. China, the world’s biggest importer of oil, is one of the few remaining customers of crude from countries such as Iran, Venezuela and Russia, which are subject to heavy sanctions by the United States.

China needs this fuel, which is discounted from international benchmarks, to supply its manufacturing sector and prop up its flagging oil refineries. To bypass Western financial systems and shipping services, China relies on a fleet of aging, substandard tankers that operate illicitly and increasingly threaten the safety of international sea lanes, say analysts.

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An inflatable boat belonging to the Singapore Navy near the fire-blackened Hafnia Nile following its collision with the Ceres I on July 19. (Republic of Singapore Navy/Reuters)

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Rebecca Tan
Rebecca Tan is the Southeast Asia Bureau Chief, covering 12 countries in a rapidly evolving part of the world. She was a Livingston Award finalist for her reporting on conflict in Myanmar and was previously part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize in public service for coverage of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. @rebtanhs

Júlia Ledur
Júlia Ledur is a graphics reporter covering foreign news at The Washington Post. Before joining The Post in 2021, she worked as a graphics editor at the COVID Tracking Project at the Atlantic. Previously, she was on the graphics team at Reuters, covering Latin American politics, the environment and social issues with data and visuals. @juledurg