Moscow would consider the open deployment of British troops to Ukraine as a “declaration of war,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned. He was responding to a visit to Kiev on Friday by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is set to sign a security agreement with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
Sunak’s arrival in the Ukrainian capital is meant to “set out a major new package of support and reaffirm the close UK-Ukraine partnership,” his office said in a statement. The security document is a follow-up to agreements reached by G7 and NATO members last year, it noted. The statement did not mention any plans for a British military deployment in Ukraine.
“(The deal) formalizes a range of support the UK has been and will continue to provide for Ukraine’s security, including intelligence sharing, cyber security, medical and military training, and defense industrial cooperation,” Downing Street said.
Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, issued his warning in a social media post.
The British government has pledged £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) in military aid to Ukraine over the next two years, including in the form of thousands of military drones, which London said will be the largest of their kind ever received by Kiev. Most of the UAVs will be made in the UK, the announcement added.
The British prime minister Rishi Sunak has arrived in Kiev to sign a “historic UK-Ukraine Agreement on Security Cooperation.”
What would Western public say, if the British representatives happened to be bombarded with cluster ammunition in the centre of Kiev, just as was the…
The UK has been a key supporter of Kiev’s war effort against Russia. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly played a significant role in derailing a nascent truce that Kiev and Moscow had negotiated in the early months of the hostilities in 2022, although he has denied ordering the Ukrainian government to keep fighting.
Moscow has on several occasions accused the UK of helping Ukraine organize attacks against Russia, particularly in the Black Sea. The Russian Defense Ministry has claimed that British military personnel already have a presence in Ukraine.
Serangan Amerika dan Inggris terhadap Yaman adalah contoh lain dari distorsi resolusi Dewan Keamanan PBB dan pengabaian terhadap hukum internasional atas nama eskalasi di wilayah tersebut, kata Maria Zakharova dari Kementerian Luar Negeri Rusia pada hari Jumat, 12/01/2024.
AS dan Inggris melancarkan serangan udara semalaman terhadap posisi Houthi di empat provinsi Yaman, termasuk ibu kota Sanaa dan kota Al Hudaydah, Saada dan Taiz, kata pejabat pemerintah provinsi kepada Sputnik. Para pejabat AS dan Inggris mengkonfirmasi serangan udara tersebut, dengan mengatakan bahwa serangan tersebut menargetkan fasilitas dan posisi militer Houthi di Yaman sebagai tanggapan atas serangan terhadap kapal komersial di Laut Merah dan bukan pusat populasi sipil.
“Serangan udara AS di Yaman adalah contoh lain dari distorsi resolusi Dewan Keamanan PBB oleh Anglo-Saxon dan pengabaian hukum internasional atas nama memperburuk situasi di wilayah tersebut demi tujuan destruktif mereka sendiri,” tulis Zakharova di Telegram.
Patut dicatat bahwa Rusia meminta diadakannya sidang darurat di Dewan Keamanan PBB, dengan latar belakang agresi gabungan AS-Inggris terhadap Yaman.
Misi Tetap Rusia untuk PBB menjelaskan, pihaknya meminta diadakannya pertemuan mendesak Dewan Keamanan PBB, pada 12 Januari, mengenai serangan Amerika dan Inggris di Yaman.
Reaksi Iran
“Serangan ini terjadi sebagai upaya untuk memperluas dukungan penuh AS dan Inggris selama kurang lebih 100 hari terakhir atas kejahatan perang rezim Zionis terhadap rakyat Palestina dan warga Gaza yang terkepung,” kata Kementerian Luar Negeri dalam sebuah pernyataan. penyataan.
Juru bicara kementerian Nasser Kanaani mengatakan: “Serangan-serangan ini jelas merupakan pelanggaran terhadap kedaulatan dan integritas wilayah Yaman, dan pelanggaran hukum internasional.
Reaksi Yordania
Menteri Luar Negeri Yordania Ayman Safadi mengatakan: “Agresi Israel di Gaza dan terus melakukan kejahatan perang terhadap rakyat Palestina dan melanggar hukum internasional tanpa mendapat hukuman bertanggung jawab atas meningkatnya ketegangan yang terjadi di wilayah tersebut.”
Stabilitas kawasan dan keamanannya sangat erat kaitannya, katanya, menurut media pemerintah.
“Komunitas internasional berada di persimpangan jalan kemanusiaan, moral, hukum dan keamanan,” tambah Safadi.
“Entah mereka memikul tanggung jawabnya dan mengakhiri agresi arogan Israel dan melindungi warga sipil, atau membiarkan Perdana Menteri Israel Benjamin Netanyahu dan para menteri ekstremisnya menyeret kita ke dalam perang regional yang mengancam perdamaian dunia."
Reaksi Oman
Oman mengecam tindakan militer dari “negara sahabat”, lapor media pemerintah.
Reaksi Hizbullah
Kelompok Lebanon, Hizbullah, yang merupakan sekutu Iran dan Houthi, mengatakan agresi AS menegaskan bahwa Washington berada dalam “kemitraan penuh” dengan Israel.
“AS adalah mitra penuh dalam tragedi dan pembantaian yang dilakukan oleh musuh Zionis di Gaza dan wilayah tersebut,” kata sebuah pernyataan dari kelompok tersebut.
Reaksi Hamas
Mengutuk serangan tersebut, Hamas mengatakan dalam sebuah pernyataan bahwa pemerintah AS dan Inggris akan memikul tanggung jawab atas dampak serangan mereka terhadap keamanan kawasan.
Reaksi Jihad Islam Palestina
Kelompok Jihad Islam Palestina yang berbasis di Gaza mengatakan bahwa eskalasi tersebut menegaskan bahwa pemerintah AS “melakukan perang genosida terhadap rakyat Palestina di Gaza.”
“Kami menyerukan kepada masyarakat Arab dan negara Islam untuk mengambil tindakan dalam penolakan terhadap agresi terhadap Yaman, yang dilakukan untuk membela Gaza dan tempat-tempat suci umat Islam di Palestina.”
Reaksi Arab Saudi
Kementerian luar negeri menyerukan untuk menahan diri dan “menghindari eskalasi” setelah serangan tersebut dan mengatakan pihaknya memantau situasi dengan “keprihatinan yang besar”.
“Kerajaan menekankan pentingnya menjaga keamanan dan stabilitas kawasan Laut Merah, karena kebebasan navigasi di dalamnya merupakan tuntutan internasional,” katanya.
Tiga petugas terbukti langgar SOP saat tangkap asisten Saipul Jamil
Kapolres Metro Jakarta Barat jumpa pers penangkapan Saipul Jamil
Sumber :
VIVA/Andrew Tito
Tiga petugas polisi, yakni Iptu H, Iptu ZM, dan Iptu AW terbukti melanggar standar operasional prosedur (SOP) saat menangkap asisten Saipul Jamil pada hari Jumat lalu, 05/01/2024.
"Hasil pemeriksaan terbukti ketiga anggota melanggar prosedur," kata Kapolres Metro Jakarta Barat, Kombes Pol M Syahduddi dalam jumpa pers di Jakarta, Jumat.
Syahduddi pada kesempatan tersebut juga membeberkan beberapa pelanggaran yang dilakukan oleh ketiga petugas polisi tersebut.
"Pertama, membiarkan warga melakukan kekerasan terhadap S (asisten Saipul Jamil) selaku pelaku penyalahgunaan narkoba," kata Syahduddi.
Kedua, lanjut dia, tidak memberikan keyakinan atau kepastian kepada pelaku bahwa yang bersangkutan adalah polisi.
"Meskipun anggota tersebut sudah mengatakan kami polisi dan menunjukkan tanda lencana kepolisian, anggota polisi," kata Syahduddi.
Namun, Syahduddi menuturkan, tindakan penghentian mobil yang dikendarai S dengan menunjukkan lencana polisi ternyata belum cukup untuk meyakinkan tersangka untuk mematuhi perintah petugas untuk berhenti.
"Namun (asisten Saipul Jamil) malah melarikan diri," kata Syahduddi.
Oleh karena itu, terhadap ketika anggota tersebut, akan segera disidangkan untuk mendapatkan kepastian hukum.
"Ya terhadap anggota yang terbukti melakukan pelanggaran, sebagaimana tadi disampaikan, selain dibebastugaskan, juga nanti akan menjalani sidang untuk mendapatkan kepastian hukum," kata Syahduddi.
Diketahui, dua warga sipil berinisial RP (26) dan I (32) juga ditetapkan sebagai tersangka pengeroyokan dalam penangkapan asisten Saipul Jamil pada hari Jumat lalu, 05/01/2024.
"Setelah dilaksanakan rangkaian penyelidikan terhadap pihak-pihak yang terlibat di dalam peristiwa kekerasan yang dialami oleh asisten (dari Saipul Jamil) ataupun pengemudi yang juga pelaku penyalahgunaan narkoba atas nama S, penyidik berhasil mengamankan dua orang," kata Syahduddi sebelumnya.
Kedua warga sipil tersebut ditangkap di wilayah Pesing, Kebon Jeruk pada hari Sabtu, 06/01/2014, satu hari setelah penangkapan asisten Saipul Jamil.
"Di belakang kami (RP dan I) ini juga tersangka sekaligus korban. Jadi dia memang karena geram, kesal, dengan aksi yang dilakukan oleh tersangka S (asisten Saipul Jamil) ini maka dia berusaha mengejar dan ketika dia dapat dilakukan aksi main hakim sendiri," kata Syahduddi.
Adapun salah satu teman dari kedua warga sipil tersebut terluka pada bagian tangan dan kaki akibat ditabrak mobil yang dikendarai asisten Saipul Jamil, sementara mereka (RP dan I) terkena serempet mobil tersebut.
"Terhadap kedua tersangka kami jerat dengan pasal 170 KUHP (tentang pengeroyokan) dengan ancaman hukuman pidana maksimal lima tahun penjara," kata Syahduddi.
Relawan BPBD harus bekerja keras melakukan pembersihan pohon tumbang akibat terjangan angin kencang yang melanda Kabupaten Kudus. foto: Ist
Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) Kabupaten Kudus, Jawa Tengah, mencatat sekitar 30 unit rumah mengalami kerusakan bagian atapnya dan puluhan pohon tumbang akibat hujan deras yang disertai angin kencang.
"Data sementara ada 30 unit rumah rusak akibat angin kencang pada hari Kamis sore, 11/01/2024. Petugas masih melakukan pengecekan di lapangan hari ini, sehingga dimungkinkan jumlah rusak masih bisa bertambah," kata Kasi Kedaruratan Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) Kudus Munaji di Kudus, Jumat.
Ia mengungkapkan 30 rumah rusak tersebut tersebar di dua desa, yakni Desa Ngembalrejo ada 29 unit rumah dan Desa Tumpang Krasak ada satu rumah (Kecamatan Bae).
Berdasarkan keterangan warga yang terdampak, bencana tersebut terjadi sekitar pukul 15.10 WIB. Peristiwa tersebut, diawali dengan turun hujan, kemudian disertai tiupan angin kencang.
Akibat peristiwa tersebut, 30 unit rumah warga mengalami kerusakan bervariasi, sedangkan korban jiwa nihil. Kerusakan yang terjadi berupa genteng rumah tersapu angin, ada juga yang rusak akibat tertimpa pohon tumbang.
Ia mengimbau warga untuk tetap waspada terhadap kemungkinan terjadinya bencana alam. Jika terjadi bencana puting beliung disarankan untuk menjauhi sudut ruangan, pintu, jendela, dan juga dinding terluar bangunan, karena angin dengan kecepatan tinggi bisa merusak bagian-bagian dari rumah, sehingga material tersebut bisa membahayakan keselamatan jiwa.
Sementara jumlah pohon tumbang, kata dia, data sementara ada 25 pohon yang tersebar di sejumlah daerah. Di antaranya, di Jalan Lingkar Utara UMK, Jalan Jenderal Sudirman serta sejumlah jalan lain, termasuk di kompleks kampus IAIN Kudus terdapat lima titik.
Setelah mendapatkan informasi bencana tersebut, lanjut dia, petugas BPBD Kudus bersama relawan menuju ke sejumlah lokasi kejadian untuk membantu evakuasi pohon tumbang.
"Beberapa pohon tumbang ada yang melintang di jalan, sehingga menutup akses jalan dan mengakibatkan arus lalu lintas tersendat. Ada pula pohon tumbang yang menimpa bangunan rumah, jaringan PLN dan Telkom serta warung makan," ujarnya.
Kerugian akibat peristiwa tersebut, ditaksir mencapai Rp260 jutaan, karena selain genteng warga beterbangan dan pecah, terdapat rumah warga yang rusak, termasuk beberapa bangunan milik IAIN Kudus.
Gedung Perpustakaan IAIN Kudus rusak
Kampus Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN) Kudus pun diterjang angin kencang disertai hujan lebat pada hari Kamis sore, 11/01/2024, berdasarkan pantauan Kabag Umum dan Layanan Akademik Agus Wahyudi mengatakan hasil pantauan di sejumlah Gedung IAIN yang mengalami kerusakan rata-rata yang berada di dekat area persawahan. Kaca dan plafon gedung runtuh berada di gedung Perpustakaan dan PKM. Kejadian tersebut murni karena faktor alam karena disekitar lokasi juga banyak pohon yang tumbang.
RUSAK: Pintu perpus lantai II IAIN Kudus rusak pecah setelah terkena angin kencang, Kamis (11/1). (DOK ISTIMEWA UNTUK RADAR KUDUS)
Senada Adnan kepala biro AUAK menjelaskan pembangunan gedung sudah sesuai standar. Terjadinya kerusakan ini murni karena hujan deras dan angin kencang. Dalam kejadian ini tidak ada korban jiwa.
Tidak ada korban dalam insiden ini. Sejumlah satpam kampus pun tampak berjaga di lokasi. Sebab, dikhawatirkan ada reruntuhan genteng atau kaca susulan.
Kerusakan juga terjadi di gedung PKM IAIN Kudus, kampus bagian timur. Aula PKM tampak porak peranda usai dilibas angin kencang.
Humas IAIN Kudus, Taqiyusinna mengatakan angin kencang itu datang bersamaan dengan hujan deras. Pihaknya kini sedang mendata imbas angin kencang di kampusnya.
"Iya betul di IAIN Kudus, kami sedang menginventarisir beberapa kerusakan yang terdampak dari hujan lebat dan petir. Nanti kami segera kirim rilisnya," kaya Yusi.
Jember Dilanda Hujan dan Angin Kencang, Sejumlah Bangunan dan Kendaraan Rusak
Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah Jember menginformasikan bahwa hujan deras disertai angin kencang yang melanda tiga kecamatan di Kabupaten Jember, Jawa Timur, pada Senin petang kemarin, 08/01/2024, petang, menyebabkan sejumlah bangunan dan kendaraan rusak akibat tertimpa pohon tumbang.
Penta Satria, Kepala Bidang Kedaruratan dan Logistik BPBD Jember, menyebutkan bahwa 11 lokasi terdampak tersebar di Kecamatan Sumbersari, Kaliwates, dan Silo.
Angin kencang tersebut terjadi di Kelurahan Tegal Gede, Sumbersari, Karangrejo, Antirogo di Kecamatan Sumbersari, serta di depan GOR PKPSO di Kecamatan Kaliwates.
Hujan lebat disertai petir dan angin kencang menyebabkan puluhan pohon tumbang, merusak rumah, tempat usaha, kendaraan, dan tiang listrik.
“Tidak ada korban jiwa dalam terjadinya bencana angin kencang tersebut, namun beberapa bangunan mengalami kerusakan. Kami sudah melakukan pendataan dampak angin kencang itu,” katanya dilansir dari Antara.
Penta menjelaskan bahwa meskipun tidak ada korban jiwa, beberapa bangunan mengalami kerusakan. Dampaknya meliputi tiga rumah, lima tempat usaha, lima mobil, sepeda motor, dua tiang listrik patah, dan 34 pohon tumbang di belasan titik.
Tim sukarelawan BPBD Jember melakukan penanganan cepat setelah menerima informasi, termasuk menangani empat mobil yang tertimpa pohon tumbang di Kampus Universitas Jember.
“Dampak angin kencang tersebut menyebabkan tiga rumah dan lima tempat usaha mengalami kerusakan, kemudian lima mobil dan sepeda motor rusak, dua tiang listrik patah dan 34 pohon tumbang yang tersebar di belasan titik.” tuturnya.
Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi dan Geofisika (BMKG) telah memberikan peringatan dini terkait cuaca ekstrem pada periode 4 Januari hingga 10 Januari 2024, dan masyarakat Jember diimbau untuk berhati-hati serta waspada terhadap hujan disertai angin.
At least 23,469 Palestinians have been killed and 59,604 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7 [AFP]
The killing of civilians in Gaza is at a scale unprecedented in recent history, monitoring groups have said, as Israel continues to pound the besieged coastal enclave more than three months into the war.
Britain-based charity Oxfam said on Thursday that the daily death toll of Palestinians in Israel’s war on Gaza surpasses that of any other major conflict in the 21st century, while survivors remain at high risk due to hunger, diseases and cold, as well as ongoing Israeli bombardments.
Oxfam said the crisis is further compounded by Israel’s restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza, where only 10 percent of weekly food aid that is needed gets in. This poses a serious risk of starvation for those who survive the relentless bombardment, it said.
Also on Thursday, United States-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its World Report 2024, which said civilians in Gaza have been “targeted, attacked, abused, and killed over the past year at a scale unprecedented in the recent history of Israel and Palestine”.
‘War crimes’
At least 23,469 Palestinians have been killed and 59,604 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
In the most recent 24-hour reporting period, Israeli forces carried out 10 mass killings in the Gaza Strip, causing 112 deaths and 194 injuries, the ministry added. About 7,000 people remain missing under the rubble and are presumed dead.
“The heinous crimes carried out by Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups since October 7 are the abhorrent legacy of decades-long impunity for unlawful attacks and Israel’s systematic repression of Palestinians,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at HRW.
“How many more civilians must suffer or be killed as a result of war crimes before countries supplying weapons pull the plug and otherwise take action to end these atrocities?” he asked.
This comes as South Africa on Thursday presented its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, accusing the country of committing “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza, a charge that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected as “hypocrisy and lies”.
In its report, HRW noted that Israel’s war on Gaza has included “acts of collective punishment that amount to war crimes and include the use of starvation as a method of warfare”, including cutting off essential services such as water and electricity and blocking the entry of most critical humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, HRW said during the first eight months of 2023, incidents of settler violence against Palestinians and their property reached the highest daily average since the United Nations started recording this data in 2006. At least 3,291 Palestinians were held in administrative detention without charge or trial, according to Israel Prison Service figures.
“Israeli authorities’ repression of Palestinians, undertaken as part of a policy to maintain the domination of Jewish Israelis over Palestinians, amount to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution,” HRW said.
‘Gaza is different from space’
Experts in mapping damage during wartime have also found that the war in Gaza now sits among the deadliest and most destructive in recent history.
According to an analysis of Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite data by the CUNY Graduate Center and Oregon State University, the war has killed more civilians than the US-led coalition did in its three-year campaign against ISIL (ISIS).
The offensive has wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II, researchers found, according to a report by The Associated Press.
Israel’s offensive has likely either damaged or destroyed more than two-thirds of all structures in northern Gaza and a quarter of buildings in the southern area of Khan Younis, according to satellite data collected by the research group.
That includes tens of thousands of homes as well as schools, hospitals, mosques and stores. UN monitors have said that about 70 percent of school buildings across Gaza have been damaged.
“Gaza is now a different colour from space. It’s a different texture,” said Corey Scher of the CUNY Graduate Center, who has worked to map destruction across several war zones.
Iran confirmed on Thursday that its navy seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that was reported to have been boarded by armed men.
On Thursday, a US oil tanker, previously caught in a regional standoff between Iran and US, was reportedly boarded by a group of armed individuals off the coast of Oman and appeared to have changed course toward Iran.
Five masked gunmen wearing black military style uniforms boarded the crude oil tanker, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
Iran's state-run television acknowledged the seizure late Thursday afternoon, hours after armed men boarded it.
“The violating oil tanker Suez Rajan ... stole Iranian oil by leading it to the Americans and delivered it to the Americans,” state TV said. It said Iran's navy, rather than its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, conducted the seizure. Past tense incidents at sea have largely involved the Guard.
Earlier, the Saudi-owned news station Al Arabiya posted on X.com claims made by Iranian state TV that it had detained an American oil tanker in the Arabian Sea, but did not name the vessel, or make reference directly to the St Nikolas.
The St. Nikolas crude oil tanker’s owners have told Arab News they lost contact with the ship early Thursday morning.
The incident was reported 50 nautical miles east of Oman’s Sohar.
Security experts say the ships tracking system has been turned off and the vessel is believed to be headed towards Iran.
A spokesperson at Empire Navigation, managers of M/T St. Nikolas, confirmed to Arab News reports that they lost contact with their vessel at approximately 06:30 a.m. Athens time (04:30 GMT) “as she was sailing off the coast of Oman, close to Sohar. The vessel is manned with total 19 crew members: 18 Filipino and one of Greek Nationality.”
“The vessel had loaded the previous days in Basrah (Iraq) a cargo of about 145,000 metric tonnes of crude oil destined to Aliaga (Turkey), via the Suez Canal. The charterer of the vessel is Tupras.”
“Empire Navigation have activated their emergency plan, notified the pertinent authorities and are making every effort to restore communication with the St.Nikolas.”
Reuters cited the US private intelligence firm Ambrey as saying the tanker’s automatic identification system had been turned off, adding that the tanker was headed in the direction of Bandar-E-Jask in Iran.
The website of the UKMTO, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, stated: “UKMTO has received a report of vessel being boarded by 4-5 armed unauthorised persons at approximately 0330UTC in an area 50NM East of Sohar, Oman.”
“Unauthorised boarders are reported to be wearing military style black uniforms with black masks.”
“CSO reports vessel has altered course towards Iranian teritorial waters and communications with the vessel have been lost. Authorities are investigating.”
An earlier report on the site stated: “CSO reports hearing unknown voices over the phone along with the Masters voice. Unable to make further contact with vessels at this time. Authorities are investigating”.
Earlier reports advised vessels in the area to “transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO.”
AP said that those boarding the ship had covered the surveillance cameras as they boarded.
The ongoing incident comes just a day after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution condemning “in the strongest terms” multiple Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea over the past two months.
The incident currently has an amber status on the UKMTO website, indicating that a “Robbery, Boarding, Suspicious approach” has taken place. A red status would signify “Attack, Hijack, Incident, Kidnap”.
Tensions have grown in the seas off the Arabian Gulf in recent days, with Yemen’s Houthi militia saying on Wednesday that it carried out a retaliation strike on the US Navy in the Red Sea with multiple missiles and drones.
On this occasion American and British navy ships shot down 21 Houthi drones.
British Defense Minister Grant Shapps said, Wednesday that the continuation of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea was “completely unacceptable”.
Shapps previously said on Jan.1 that Britain was “willing to take direct action” against Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen who have repeatedly attacked vessels in the Red Sea.
The St Nikolas is a Crude Oil Tanker that was built in 2011 and is sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands, it is associated with the Greek shipping company Empire Navigation.
Attention began focusing on the Suez Rajan in February 2022, when the group United Against Nuclear Iran said it suspected the tanker carried oil
from Iran’s Khargh Island, its main oil distribution terminal in the Persian Gulf.
Satellite photos and shipping data analyzed at the time by the AP supported the allegation.
For months, the ship sat in the South China Sea off the northeast coast of Singapore before suddenly sailing for the Texas coast without explanation. The vessel discharged its cargo to another tanker in August, which released its oil in Houston as part of a Justice Department order.
In September, Empire Navigation pleaded guilty to smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil and agreed to pay a $2.4 million fine over a case involving the tanker when it operated under the name Suez Rajan, which carried some 1 million barrels of oil.
