A tanker carrying Iranian oil to Syria turned round in the Red Sea to head away from its original destination, following the fall of Syrian President Bashar alAssad, according to deliver tracking data.

The Suezmax tanker Lotus, carrying around 1 million barrels of Iranian oil, reversed just before the Suez Canal on Dec. 8 to begin sailing southbound in the Red Sea, according to maritime data analytics firm Kpler.

Tanker Trackers, another ship tracking source, also reported Lotus' turn-around in the Red Sea.

The Iran-flagged tanker, packed with crude filled on Iran's. Kharg Island, sailed past the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the south. end of the Red Sea on Monday, and was not signalling a brand-new. location, according to Kpler.

Syria had actually been depending on Iran's unrefined exports to run its. 2 oil refineries, as the country's local crude production. mainly stopped after the civil war that emerged over a decade. ago.

Iran has sent out almost 19 million barrels of crude to Syria in. 2024 to date, consisting of one to four tanker shipments per month. to the Syrian port of Baniyas, Kpler information showed.

(source: Reuters)