Aged Oil Tanker Signals Iran’s Revival of Decommissioned Vessels

An Iranian supertanker, the Nasha, which is 29 years old, has reappeared at Kharg Island after several years of inactivity. This suggests that Tehran may be using decommissioned vessels to maintain oil loading operations as their storage capacity diminishes.

Built in 1997, the Nasha is a very large crude carrier flying the Iranian flag. Recent satellite images analyzed by the advocacy organization United Against Nuclear Iran and Bloomberg News show that it was docked at Kharg Island, the largest oil-export terminal in Iran, as of Sunday.

Experts from Vortexa and UANI noted that the vessel seems to have been reactivated after delivering a cargo two to three years ago. Its activities since its last detection remain unclear, as it has not broadcast its location, leaving questions about whether it was sailing, idle, or anchored within or outside the Persian Gulf.

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The US blockade has resulted in an increasing number of tankers loaded with Iranian oil being stranded in the Persian Gulf or the Gulf of Oman, while other ships are unable to navigate through the Strait of Hormuz for oil loading. As a result, Iran is rapidly exhausting its oil storage options, with capacity expected to last no more than three weeks at the current pace, according to the research firm Kpler this week.

While Iran has demonstrated resilience amid significant economic challenges, the presence of US warships in the Gulf of Oman will likely force it to pursue more innovative solutions.

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Reactivating the Nasha and similar vessels could afford Tehran additional time to sustain production and preserve some storage capacity. The country is skilled at utilizing both onshore and offshore facilities more effectively than its neighbors before storage tanks reach full capacity. Just days before Israel commenced military actions in June last year, Iran successfully increased loadings to 2.33 million barrels a day.

Bloomberg News could not immediately determine how many empty Iran-linked tankers are currently in or near the Persian Gulf. Analysts indicate that, without options like the Nasha, Tehran may soon need to reduce oil production.

“Reactivating vessels like this can help Iran in the short term, but the underlying problem of the US blockade remains, as they struggle to acquire ballast vessels,” said Xavier Tang, a senior market analyst at the ship-tracking platform Vortexa Ltd. “The more critical question may be when they will cut crude production.”

Meanwhile, the US has reinforced its enforcement of the blockade established earlier this month, with President Trump consistently claiming that Iran is on the verge of collapse.

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“They don’t know how to finalize a non-nuclear agreement. They should get smart soon!” Trump remarked in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”

Recently, several supertankers transporting Iranian oil have faced obstacles from the US Navy, forcing them to gather off the coast of an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman. Currently, this group consists of 20 ships, compared to an average of five before the blockade, as reported by US Central Command in a Tuesday social media update.

Last week, satellite imagery identified 13 tankers, predominantly VLCCs, anchored to the east of Kharg Island—approximately double the number observed the day prior to the blockade’s initiation on April 13. Inbound traffic into the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz remains nearly nonexistent.

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