Nexo

A court in Singapore has given the owner of the 'Echo Star' carrying Iranian liquid gas one week to either come forward or it would auction the vessel. In July 2019, Singapore port authorities had seized two oil tankers owned by the Chinese Kunlun Shipping Company carrying Iranian petroleum products. They were registered under the names "Gas Infinity", recently renamed as "Echo Star" and 'Gas Dragon' renamed as 'Nexo'. The 'Echo Star' which used to carry Iranian LPG since last July to China, has been sanctioned by Washington, but continued its operation by using deceptive techniques to cover the origin of cargoes she was delivering - by turning off her AIS transponder while loading from Iranian terminals and receiving Iranian-sourced cargo via ship-to-ship (STS) transfers at Malacca Strait. The vessel released last July reappeared in mid-October in Singapore ports. The 'Echo Star' took cargo from Iran mid-October and was crossing the Singapore Strait when it was seized again and listed on the "vessels under Sheriff's arrest" section. Now, the vessel has a seven-day notice to settle the judgment, or a sale by public auction will be arranged about six weeks after the arrest. The 'Nexo' is currently idle and anchored in the Persian Gulf waters. The U.S. added the Chinese Kunlun Shipping company to its "blacklist" for violating sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic. The Chinese company and a sister bank are registered in the British Virgin Island. China is the sole buyer of Iranian LPG and also imports a limited amount of crude oil from the Islamic Republic.

The "Sea Dragon" was arrested in Singapore on July 24, 2019, at 6.30 p.m. The arresting solicitor was Allen & Gledhill LLP. The vessel was located at Sudong Special Purpose Anchorage / 4111C. The tanker has been released on Aug 1.

An injured Chinese crew member was medevaced from the "Sea Dragon" by the Indian Coast Guard on May 16, 2017. The Coastguard ship "Savitribai Phule" evacuated Hong Jiangyu, 31, from the tanker 25 km off Mangaluru at 7.40 a.m. The LPG carrier was sailing from Singapore to Fujairah, U.A.E. The ship reported at 7.15 a.m. that the boilerman had sustained injury on the index finger of his right hand and needed immediate evacuation. After providing first aid and evacuating him to the coast guard ship at 7.40 a.m. he was brought to the New Mangalore Port and handed over to the shipping agent for further medical treatment at 8.50 a.m.