Iranian oil tankers are using fake data to get sanctioned fuel out of the Strait of Hormuz
Tracking data indicates Iranian-linked oil tankers are using fake location information to move through the Strait of Hormuz. One appears to be on land. (ABC NEWS Verify)
Marine tracking data indicates Iranian-linked oil tankers are using fake location information to help them avoid detection as they move sanctioned cargo through the Strait of Hormuz.
The strait has been under an effective military blockade by Iranian forces since the US-Israeli forces began attacking Iran in late February.
European leaders have ruled out sending warships to the strait, despite threats from United States President Donald Trump that NATO faces a "very bad" future if they fail to help reopen the global supply choke point.
ABC News Verify obtained tracking data via Starboard Maritime Intelligence, a ship-tracking company that monitors vessels and analyses their activity.
It shows tankers using a method known as "AIS spoofing" to hide cargo loading points and vessel movements through the Persian Gulf.
AIS, or automatic identification system, uses transponders to track marine vessels' movements.
This can give buyers a veil of legitimacy with sanctioned oil.
Oil shipment organisation TankerTrackers said this week that up to 2 million barrels of Iranian crude oil were loaded on tankers at Kharg Island in the Strait on March 13.
TankerTrackers said that it seemed to be "business as usual".
Analysts at trade data and analytics company Kpler estimated Iran had been able to export 12 million barrels between February 28 and March 12.
Ocean Guardian not where it says it is
To help explain how AIS spoofing is helping Iranian-linked ships transit oil through the Strait of Hormuz, ABC NEWS Verify has tracked the movements of one specific ship.
Cargo tanker Ocean Guardian, together with another vessel owned by the same company, completed at least 30 shipments from Iran in 2025, according to Starboard Maritime Intelligence analyst Mark Douglas.
In early February this year, the tanker was recorded travelling under Panama's flag.
The tanker lists "New Horizon Maritime Co SA" as its owner.
Its address is listed as the Manarat Alkhaleej Marine Services FZE Office in the Hamriyah Free Zone, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Earlier this year, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control designated both Manarat Alkhaleej and Ocean Guardian as "Iran-related".
In tracking data examined by ABC News Verify, Ocean Guardian can be seen in the northern part of the Persian Gulf early last month, before the conflict began.
The Ocean Guardian appears unusually still in tracking data. (Supplied: Starboard Maritime Intelligence)
The tanker is completely still, which Mr Douglas said could be a sign it was attempting to hide its real position.
"All the vessels around it are swinging on their anchors," he said.
"Vessels don't stay perfectly still in real life. Even when they're anchored, they move around as the tide and the wind push them around. But this vessel seems to be completely resistant to all forces of nature."
Imagery captured from a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) — a radar mounted on a satellite that sends pulses to Earth to track changes in terrain and physical structures — also indicates Ocean Guardian was not where its tracking data claimed it was.
SAR imagery shows that the AIS data and the satellite do not correspond. (Supplied: Starboard Maritime Intelligence)
Instead of a 180-metre cargo tanker, SAR imagery found nothing in its stated location.
"What you're seeing is a sanctioned vessel providing weeks of false AIS data as it moves through the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf,"Mr Douglas said.
"The vessel is almost certainly doing this to hide the loading of Iranian oil at a terminal in the Northern Persian Gulf."
Cargo in transit
By February 21, Ocean Guardian — still claiming it was in the northern Persian Gulf — had changed its name to Danube.
According to the International Compliance Association, sanctioned tankers change their name to avoid detection, hide ownership, or bypass restrictions.
It is not illegal, but can be used to evade or delay tracing by authorities.
Most tankers carry a unique number called an IMO; it's a permanent identifier that stays with ocean vessels for their lifetime.
Ocean Guardian and Danube have the same IMO.
When Ocean Guardian changed its name, it also reflagged. This is when a tanker changes from one designated country flag to another.
Its new flag — Guinea — is among the most common for sanctioned tankers, according to maritime intelligence company Seasearcher.
On March 12, Danube's vessel draught changed — that's the distance between the waterline and the vessel's lowest point.
The ship originally had a vessel draught of 7.5 metres, but ship-tracking data indicates the Danube went to a vessel draught of 10.5 metres.
This is an indication that the tanker has loaded cargo.
Over the next two days, Starboard Maritime's tracking shows the tanker quickly moving south from its alleged location in the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz and even briefly appearing to cross over land.
From March 20, Danube travels quickly south and for a moment overland. (Supplied: Starboard Maritime Intelligence)
Mr Douglas said it was likely legitimate AIS data would resume at some point.
"Eventually, they'll come back on AIS, either as the same vessel, or they might change their identity, or in an attempt to hide the original location, original point of loading for the oil," he said.
"This vessel is likely now heading towards Asia, where it's going to offload its oil to another tanker or sail on to the likes of China, which is a big importer of Iranian crude."
Mr Douglas said tankers carrying sanctioned cargo would continue to use loopholes like AIS spoofing during the war.
"The current pressure on commodities is unlikely to have a significant impact on this practice," he said.
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