(July 16): Two tankers carrying Iranian oil that earlier appeared to be heading towards Pakistan have turned around as a renewed US naval blockade takes effect.

The Rani and the Amil, carrying a combined one million barrels of crude, briefly signalled Karachi as their destination before making U-turns on Wednesday, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. The two vessels had already exited the Persian Gulf when Washington reimposed its blockade of Iranian shipping.

US Central Command said on Wednesday it had redirected two commercial vessels attempting to breach the blockade since operations resumed, but it did not identify the ships.

Pakistan hasn’t imported Iranian crude for at least a decade because of the risk of US sanctions, according to data intelligence firm Kpler. One possibility is the tankers signalled Karachi as a place to wait or transfer their cargoes to other ships.

Previously, when the US blockade was in place, several empty Iran-linked tankers idled near Pakistan to stay close to the Persian Gulf as they waited for the right time to sail back in for more cargoes, according to non-profit organisation United Against Nuclear Iran.

Ships signalling Pakistan are likely seeking a relatively secure location from which to wait out developments, rather than intending to discharge Iranian oil or cargo there, according to Charlie Brown, an adviser to the group.

Both tankers are sanctioned by the US, and are part of the dark fleet Iran uses to transport its oil. Maritime database Equasis lists Panama-based Starboard Shipping Inc-Pan as the owner and manager of the Rani, while Malaysia-based Amelie Ltd owns the Amil and Espoir Shipping Ltd in Hong Kong manages it. Equasis lists no contact details for Starboard or Espoir. The contact number listed for Amelie is not in service.

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