The Singapore-flagged oil tanker EM Longevity completed its last voyage nearly three years ago after over two decades at sea. Recently, ship-tracking data indicated that it arrived at a Chinese port, loaded with crude oil and ready to discharge. This incident highlights the ongoing expansion of the “dark fleet,” a term used to describe vessels that transport restricted oil using various evasive tactics.
Among these tactics are “zombie vessels,” which assume the identities of legitimate but defunct ships to bypass growing restrictions and manipulate the Automatic Identification System (AIS) tracking system. The EM Longevity, a very-large crude carrier built in 2000, was reported to have been sent to a scrapyard in Bangladesh in December 2021, marking the end of its operational life.
However, on September 23, a tanker using the EM Longevity’s identity number appeared at a terminal in Dalian, Liaoning province. After partially unloading, it sailed across the Yellow Sea, docking at Yantai, a port city in Shandong province, according to ship-tracking and satellite data.
Given past practices of the dark fleet, it’s likely that this vessel has adopted the identity of the original EM Longevity, although it remains unclear if the old tanker was actually resurrected from the scrapyard. Jan Stockbruegger, a research fellow at the University of Copenhagen’s Ocean Infrastructure Research Group, questioned the decision to reactivate a 24-year-old crude oil tanker, suggesting that it’s more likely a vessel designed to appear legitimate to evade detection.
The EM Longevity’s International Maritime Organization registration number currently lacks any indication of an active manager, owner, or insurer in ship-tracking databases. The tanker is now flagged under Eswatini, a landlocked African kingdom that has noted that many ships operate under its flag without permission.
This new version of the EM Longevity exhibits characteristics typical of the dark fleet. It began sailing through the Straits of Hormuz toward Iranian waters around August 11, loaded with cargo. The ship lingered for several days near Iran’s Kharg Island, known for its oil terminal, before navigating back through the Persian Gulf toward the Straits of Hormuz.
By the end of August, the vessel passed through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore before heading north to China. By mid-September, it was located in the Yellow Sea between Liaoning and Shandong provinces.
Sea Agility Pte, which was listed as the EM Longevity’s previous manager in shipping databases, did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, China’s so-called “teapot refiners,” particularly those in Shandong, have increasingly relied on cheaper crude oil from sanctioned countries, especially Iranian oil. Imports of Iranian crude into China are projected to hit a record high of 1,79 million barrels per day in September, according to data from Kpler.
