Malta-flagged Iranian crude oil supertanker Delvar is seen anchored off Singapore March 1, 2012. While it works to secure new supply routes, traders say Iran is steaming vessels laden with crude and condensates into Asia, where they can drain the contents into smaller ships and sell the cargoes into China and parts of Southeast Asia. One of Iran's supertankers, the Delvar, was involved in such an operation last week. The ship was first parked off Indonesia's Karimun island, an offshore storage point near Singapore that is often used for ship-to-ship transfers. A smaller, China-bound tanker, Xuan Wu Hu, pulled up beside the Delvar and loaded a cargo of condensate for Huizhou, where China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and Royal Dutch Shell operate a petrochemical complex. The Delvar then moved to Bukom island, home to Shell's Singapore refinery, where it offloaded crude oil, traders said. REUTERS/Tim Chong/Files
Iran, Syria And China Oil Deal Flouts Western Sanctions -- International Business Times
Iran, Syria and China have been accused of flouting US and EU sanctions in a three-way deal to boost the Syrian regime's bank balance with oil revenues.
Iran, which has backed the Damascus government President Bashar al-Assad thoughout the year-long uprising, has provided Syria with a tanker to ship oil to a Chinese state-run importer, reports have claimed.
The move, in defiance of Western sanctions, could give the Syrian regime an £80m boost, Reuters said.
Read more ....
Update #1: Exclusive: Iran helps Syria ship oil to China: sources -- Reuters
Update #2: Iran helps Assad ship oil to China, eases sanctions-hit Syria -- First Post
Update #3: Syria Sells Oil to China—Thanks to Iran -- Newser
My Comment: In the scheme things one tanker is not that much .... but symbolically it is a big thing, and it shows to the rest of the world that China is still committed to the Assad regime.