A sanctioned oil tanker, falsely flagged as Comorian, is anchored within Malaysian territorial waters after recently moving from an anchorage outside these limits, raising speculation about a potential arrest by Malaysian authorities amid US pressure to crack down on sanctioned oil traffic. The vessel, also sanctioned by the European Union, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Canada for links to Russia, began broadcasting its AIS signal unusually and is falsely flagged as Comorian, verifiable via the IMO GISIS database. TankerTrackers and Jemima Shelley shared this information via X, formerly Twitter, on September 26th, 2025, between 3:08 PM and 4:07 PM UTC. This development follows reports that China has recently begun listing Iranian oil imports as "Indonesian" instead of "Malaysian," potentially indicating that US efforts to press Malaysia into enforcing sanctions are yielding results. The tanker's presence within Malaysian territorial waters, a departure from its usual anchorage outside these limits where "Dark Fleet" vessels typically operate, could signify an enforcement action by Malaysian Port State Control. Falsely flagged vessels are considered "Stateless" and are not protected by UNCLOS, nor do they enjoy freedom of navigation, allowing any state to intercept and inspect them. The source suggests that if the tanker has been arrested, it would represent a significant use of Port State Control authority to enforce international conventions and obligations for safe shipping. In related regional developments, Israel conducted airstrikes on the Houthi Security and Intelligence Service Headquarters in Sanaa, Yemen, on September 26th, 2025, in response to Houthi attacks. Simultaneously, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Lebanon to peace talks, despite ongoing tensions and previous Israeli airstrikes on a Hezbollah missile manufacturing site in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley.
