India has seized three oil tankers belonging to Iran this month. According to the report of news agency Reuters, India has also tightened surveillance in its maritime area to stop illegal oil trade. However, National Iranian Oil Company has said that these three ships have no connection with its company. According to sources, the names of the three ships which were stopped are Stellar Ruby, Asphalt Star and Al Jafzia. It was told that these ships used to repeatedly change their name and information to hide their identity, so that they could avoid the attention of coastal agencies. The owners of these ships are located abroad.

Indian officials had informed about the stopping of these ships in a post on social media platform X on February 6, which was later removed. According to sources, after a suspicious activity was detected about 100 nautical miles west of Mumbai, these ships were stopped and brought to Mumbai for further investigation. The source said India wants to ensure that its maritime domain is not used to hide the true origin of oil through ship-to-ship transfer. Such transfers are often used to evade sanctions and complicate the tracking of cargo.

America tariff reduction

This action has taken place at a time when relations between India and America have strengthened in recent times. This month, Washington had announced that after India agreed to stop Russian oil imports, the import duty on Indian goods would be reduced from 50 percent to 18 percent. The Office of Foreign Assets Control, which operates under the US Treasury Department, last year imposed sanctions on three ships, Global Peace, Chill 1 and Glory Star 1. Their International Maritime Organization (IMO) numbers are said to match those of the ships recently seized by India.

Two out of three tankers are linked to Iran

According to LSEG, a company providing shipping data, two of the three seized tankers were linked to Iran. Al Jafzia was carrying fuel oil from Iran to Djibouti in the year 2025, while the Stellar Ruby was carrying the Iranian flag. Asphalt Star operates primarily on sea routes around China. After the seizure of the ships, the Indian Coast Guard has increased surveillance. Now about 55 ships and 10 to 12 aircraft are monitoring India’s maritime zone round the clock.