去年曾被美军拦截、因运载受制裁原油而闻名的一艘超大型油轮，如今正在运输伊拉克石油——这一转变凸显了利润丰厚的中东航线的吸引力，以及船舶短缺的规模正将“暗影船队”承运商拉入主流市场。
A supertanker that was intercepted by US forces last year for carrying a cargo of sanctioned crude is now transporting Iraqi oil — a shift that underscores the lure of lucrative Middle Eastern routes and the scale of shortages pulling dark-fleet carriers into the mainstream.
“Centuries”号从未被美国或其他政府列入黑名单，但因其船龄超过25年——已超出大多数船舶的报废年限——以及参与受制裁石油贸易等因素，它被列入了非官方的“暗影船队”监控名单。去年12月，美国海岸警卫队在加勒比海登船检查，当时该船正运载委内瑞拉国家石油公司（Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.）的原油。
The Centuries was never blacklisted by the US or other governments, but factors including its age — more than 25 years, past the point at which most ships are scrapped — and its involvement in the sanctioned oil trade placed it on unofficial dark-fleet watch lists. The US Coast Guard boarded the ship in the Caribbean Sea in December, when it was ferrying crude from state-run Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.
据Kpler和Vortexa的数据显示，在该事件发生近一年后的本月初，“Centuries”号在伊拉克国家石油营销公司包租下装载了伊拉克原油。它在阿曼湾将该货物转运至另一艘油轮。与该地区经历八个月战争的许多船只一样，该船并未发送其位置信息，但情报公司根据卫星图像等替代数据确定了其航线。
Earlier this month — almost a year after that incident — it picked up crude from Iraq after being chartered by the country’s state oil marketer, according to data from Kpler and Vortexa. It transferred that cargo to another tanker in the Gulf of Oman. Like many vessels in the area through eight months of war, the carrier is not transmitting its location but the intelligence firms determined its route based on alternative data including satellite imagery.
随着石油流动恢复但油轮依然短缺，推高运费至创纪录高位，“Centuries”号只是现已解散的委内瑞拉“暗影船队”船只最新出现在波斯湾贸易中的一例。为缓解这一短缺，特朗普政府已发出信号，希望更多船只进入主流贸易以帮助降低成本——即使这意味着让“暗影”和受制裁船只“洗白”重返市场。
The Centuries is just the latest vessel from the now-defunct Venezuelan dark fleet to turn up in the Persian Gulf trade, as oil flows recover but tankers remain in short supply, pushing freight rates to record highs. To ease that crunch, the Trump administration has signaled it wants more carriers in the mainstream trade in order to help ease costs — even if that means rehabilitating dark and sanctioned ships.
“被封锁的船只正在被除名，或获准进行某些形式的金融交易，”Chalos & Co. 律师事务所的海事律师、曾任美国海岸警卫队法律顾问的 Benjamin Robinson 说。“重要的是要认识到正在发生的事情——这是一个相当灵活的系统，可用于实现外交政策目标。”
“Vessels that were blocked are being delisted or are being licensed for certain forms of financial transactions,” said Benjamin Robinson, a maritime attorney at Chalos & Co. who was also a counsel with the US Coast Guard. “It’s important to recognize that’s what’s going on — it’s a pretty nimble system that can be used to achieve foreign policy goals.”
周日，数据显示，此前因委内瑞拉贸易受制裁、随后被移出美国黑名单的超大型原油运输船 “Axe” 号驶入阿曼湾，越过了一条美国在该处执行对伊朗海上封锁的界线。另外两艘曾装运该石油输出国组织成员国 Merey 原油的超大型油轮—— “Kelly” 号和 “Marbella” 号——目前正驶离南美，并显示目的地为阿曼的苏哈尔。
On Sunday, the Axe, a very large crude carrier that was sanctioned over Venezuela trades and then removed from the US blacklist, sailed into the Gulf of Oman, going past a boundary line where the US was enforcing a naval blockade of Iran, the data show. Two more VLCCs that once lifted the OPEC member’s Merey crude — Kelly and Marbella — are now sailing away from South America and indicating Oman’s Sohar as their destination.
美国中央司令部（负责维护美国在中东的利益并监督该国对伊朗的海上封锁）的一名发言人表示，Centcom 知晓这四艘船只，目前没有任何一艘令人担忧。这些船只的船东、管理方以及伊拉克国家石油营销组织未立即回应彭博社的询问。
A spokesperson for US Central Command, which defends US interests in the Middle East and oversees the country’s naval blockade of Iran, said Centcom was aware of the four vessels, none of which was currently of concern. The ships’ owners, managers and Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation did not immediately respond to Bloomberg queries.
此类 “暗影船队” 承运船不太可能改变从海湾运输石油的当前经济性，也不会改变居高不下的全球运费，但它们能缓解一个极度紧张的市场。
Dark-fleet carriers like these are unlikely to transform the current economics of transporting oil out of the Gulf or sky-high global freight rates, but they can ease an exceptionally strained market.
波罗的海交易所的评估显示，今年以来，从中东驶往东亚的超大型油轮日收益增长了 4400% 以上。据船舶经纪人称，超大型油轮已被预订从科威特等地装载原油，运往海湾以外的港口，单航次运费高达 4000 万美元。这折合下来每天可达 400 万美元——是任何其他航线回报的数倍。
Daily earnings for supertankers sailing from the Middle East to east Asia have gained more than 4,400% this year, assessments from the Baltic Exchange show. Supertankers have been booked to load crude from Kuwait and others, traveling to ports outside the Gulf, at up to $40 million per voyage, according to shipbrokers. That can come to $4 million a day — many times the return on any other route.
因此，船舶经纪人据传报告称，该贸易中有大量 “暗影” 超大型油轮和苏伊士型油轮。除了委内瑞拉原油，其中一些在转向之前曾运输俄罗斯和伊朗原油。
As a result, shipbrokers anecdotally report significant numbers of shadow VLCCs and Suezmax tankers in that trade. As well as Venezuelan crude, some handled Russian and Iranian oil before pivoting.
海湾产油国渴望在冲突持续期间仍能通过霍尔木兹海峡输送石油，因此转而采用穿梭油轮模式：油轮将货物在阿曼湾转移给等候的船只，随后折返。这笔生意的利润吸引了越来越多船只参与：据观测，截至9月下旬有60艘超大型油轮（VLCC）在霍尔木兹海峡进出穿梭，高于6月至7月的约30艘，以及4月的7艘。
Gulf producers — eager to get oil through the Strait of Hormuz even as the conflict continues — have turned to shuttling tankers that can transfer their cargo to waiting vessels in the Gulf of Oman, before returning. Profits from this trade are luring more and more vessels: there were 60 VLCCs observed to be shuttling in and out of Hormuz as of late-September, up from around 30 in June-July and seven in April.
尽管如此，即使来自委内瑞拉贸易的船只抵达，也不意味着大量其他“暗影船队”船只能够跟进。船东等人士指出，在合法贸易商和生产商愿意雇用这些船只之前，还存在多重障碍。与委内瑞拉有关联的船只——属于少数——被普遍视为最可能的候选者，因为美国更容易为其“洗白”。
Still, even the arrival of carriers from the Venezuela trade does not mean a large number of other dark-fleet vessels will be able to follow, with shipowners and others citing multiple hurdles before legitimate traders and producers will engage those carriers. Venezuela-linked ships — a minority — are widely considered to be the most likely candidates, as they are easier for the US to clear. “I don’t think the additional shuttle tankers could materially bring down freight rates, as long as Iran maintains the threat of attacks on vessels in the region,” said Muyu Xu, senior crude analyst at Kpler.
“只要伊朗维持在该地区袭击船只的威胁，我不认为额外的穿梭油轮能实质性地降低运费，”开普勒（Kpler）高级原油分析师徐慕宇表示，“运输波斯湾货物仍是一项风险极高的业务。”船舶追踪数据显示，至少有一艘已从黑名单中移除的船只已现身海湾。因委内瑞拉贸易关联遭制裁、后获解除制裁的“Kiara M”号，自4月起一直在运输伊拉克原油。
“Hauling Persian Gulf cargoes is still a very risky business.”At least one vessel that was removed from that blacklist has already been spotted in the Gulf. The Kiara M, sanctioned for its Venezuela trade ties and later cleared, has been moving Iraqi crude since April, ship-tracking data show.