Tankers linked to alleged $130m crude transfer released by Malaysia

The unique IMO numbers of the Nora and Rcelebra, however, matched the identities of vessels that have been sanctioned by Western authorities, according to public records and LSEG ship-tracking data. The Nora, under its previous name Longbow Lake, was added to the US Treasury’s sanctions list in 2020 for its links to the National Iranian Oil Company.

Meanwhile, the Rcelebra has been under European Union sanctions since last year for the suspected transport of Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan crude oil and petroleum products.

The Nora was last seen moving towards Sri Lanka, while the Rcelebra was tracked heading towards the Eastern Outside Port Limit area near Singapore, a known hub for dark fleet tankers, LSEG data showed on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Danial Azhar in Kuala Lumpur and Florence Tan in Singapore; Writing by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Alex Richardson)