Elyana

The 'Elyana' has been anchored off the port of Tobruk for the last three weeks. The ship is linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL), which is subject to secondary sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and has been specifically sanctioned by name. The ship has an established history of shipping arms for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In June 2024, the vessel unloaded an Iranian-origin cargo in Latakia. IRGC cargos destined for Hezbollah and the Syrian regime were shipped into the port of Latakia. On its last voyage, the 'Elyana' set off from Bandar Abbas on April 18, making a port call in Jebel Ali - notwithstanding the ship’s sanctioned status - and continued the voyage on April 21. It took the ship 13 days, which normally takes six days, to reach the southern end of the Suez Canal without making any declared port call. Being quipped with deck cranes, the 'Elyana' would be capable of offloading cargo at unsophisticated ports en route, potentially being able to do so in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen or in Sudan. After transiting the waterway, the 'Elyana' headed to Tobruk, which is managed by the forces of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who controls Eastern Libya and the country's oilfields. The cargo consignor has been approved by or is sponsored by the IRGC.

The sanctioned 'Elyana', which in the past is likely to have been involved with shipping arms to Syria, has just completed a northerly passage up the Red Sea and was located on May 3, 2025, underway and entering the southern end of the Suez Canal. As of the end of the day, the AIS signal showsed it has completed the Suez Canal transit. The vessel set off from the Bandar Abbas commercial port on April 18, making a port call in Jebel Ali, and departed on April 21. The vessel is not known to have made any port call en route and hence has taken much longer to complete the Jebel Ali to Suez leg of its voyage than would a normal commercial vessel. The 'Elyana' is listed by name and is subject to secondary sanctions by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). It is linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which is sanctioned as an entity.Equipped with deck davit cranes, the 'Elyana' would be capable of off-loading cargo at unsophisticated ports en route, potentially being able to do so in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen without using the closely monitored (and recently demolished) ports of Hodeida and Ras Isa. In June 2024, the 'Elyana' had unloaded cargo in Latakia, which had been taken on in Bandar Abbas. While closely aligned with the doomed Assad regime in Syria, the IRGC are known to have used Latakia as a hub for their arms imports destined for Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, using shipping to the port of Latakia and flying Boeing 747 cargo aircraft directly into Latakia International Airport.