India Seizes Three Sanctioned Oil Tankers Off Mumbai

Indian authorities have seized three oil tankers subject to U.S. sanctions and suspected of links to Iran, intercepting the vessels about 100 nautical miles west of Mumbai earlier this month as part of efforts to curb illicit maritime trade in regional waters.

The tankers, identified as Stellar Ruby, Asphalt Star, and Al Jafzia, were detected following suspicious activity and escorted to Mumbai for investigation, according to a source familiar with the matter. The action aligns with a brief announcement by Indian officials on February 6 that was later removed from social media. Authorities suspect the vessels were involved in ship-to-ship transfers, a technique commonly used to obscure the origin of sanctioned oil cargoes and evade international enforcement.

The ships had reportedly altered their identifying details multiple times, a tactic to avoid detection by coastal agencies, the source said. Their owners are based overseas, complicating oversight through layered registration structures. Shipping data from LSEG shows connections to Iran for two of the vessels: Al Jafzia transported fuel oil from Iran to Djibouti in 2025, and Stellar Ruby previously flew an Iranian flag....