Regarding the Iranian tanker that was seized by 'Royal Marines' off Gibraltar recently.
If it was carrying oil from Iran to Syria as alleged, what was it doing going through the Straights of Gibraltar, as surely it should have passed through the Suez Canal?
Unless it was trying slip under the radar by taking the long way round the Cape?
Anyone? It's niggling me!
Various rumors, but the most likely to me seems to be this one :
https://en.radiofarda.com/a/why-iran-supertanker-took-a-much-longer-route-to-reach-syria-/30038586.html
Basically, the oil carried in the tanker is heavier than normal, which makes the tanker float too "deep" to pass through the Suez Canal. No doubt Barnacle Bill the ex-Sailors amongst us will be able to explain the correct technical words for "float" and too "deep" soon. Bit like pointy end and blunt end of a boat doesn't go down very well in the navy :-)
Yes, I looked into this just after all this became news, and have been watching it since,
In short the vessels that can transit though the Canal are classed as being Suezmax vessels which are withing the various restrictions on size, that is mainly in terms of beam (width) and draft (depth), which in the case of tankers is the crucial elements given their usually large proportions, along with the normal max load of 1 million barrels, which brings them under the draft limit.
Now in short, and is a complicated situation, the limit of Draft is
20.1 metres, or 66 feet. The
Grace 1 tanker that is subject to this situation would not normally be able to transit the Canal with a full load as she is
not classed as a Suezmax vessel, as it is outside the normal restrictions, with 2.1 million barrels of light crude oil (equivalent to 2 million barrels of fuel oil) on board, giving her a draft of
22.5 metres. Normally, apparently, this size of vessel unloads her cargo of oils, crude oil, light crude, or fuel oil, out at sea as she, a vessel of over 20 years old, is prohibited from many ports, so unloads to Suezmax tankers carrying 1 million barrels apiece to go through the canal. This
Grace 1 has a long history of doing these STS, Ship To Ship transfers, and did off Iraq (2018) and UAE this year.
Grace 1 is very much a supertanker and was built for not going through the World's canals but going with their huge cargos the long way around the Cape of Good Hope, so are classed as Capsize vessels.
The whole situation is very suspicious, and the Captain has apparently been arrested along with the First Mate for reasons not given, but many "irregularities" in the loading of the fuel at various points, and then her travel up to the Straights of Gibraltar, have been noted.
Hope this clarifies