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“First” Oil Tanker Arrives in Syria as Russia Appears to Build Supply Chain

tanker arriving Syria
Tanker Prosperity arrived on Syria last week (Syrian Arab News Agency - SANA)

Published Mar 21, 2025 1:16 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

The Syrian government's news outlets are hailing the arrival of the first crude oil tanker into the country since the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. It comes mounting evidence points to Russia building a supply chain to alleviate Syria’s ongoing energy crisis.

In a posting online, Syria reported the arrival on Thursday night, March 20, of the tanker Aquatica (106,000 dwt) carrying nearly 100 million metric tons of crude oil. The report said the tanker would begin offloading at the oil terminal in Baniyas marking the first shipment to reach the country “since the liberation.” Media reports said it is critical fuel to be used for electric power generation.

The new government has been desperate to build fuel supplies to address a lack of domestic production and a suspension of imports. The Financial Times has reported that Syria was getting as much as 100,000 barrels a day from Iran before the fall of the Assad regime. Iran reportedly was supplying approximately 90 percent of Syria’s crude oil but cut it off when Assad fled the country.

Aquatica is registered in Barbados but databases list its management in Azerbaijan and ownership in the Seychelles. The tanker was added to the U.S. sanctions list in January 2025 and the European Union followed with its listing of the tanker in February.

While it is the first reported crude oil tanker to arrive, according to TankerTrackers.com it is not the last. They reported online earlier this week that they are tracking another tanker, Sabina (158,000 dwt) registered in Barbados but owned and managed from Hong Kong. TankerTrackers.com says it is transporting one million barrels of Russian crude oil to Syria, where it is due to arrive in early April. Reuters is also reporting that a crude oil tanker named Sakina (157,000 dwt) also registered in Barbados with management and ownership in Hong Kong is heading toward Syria. It is also on the U.S. sanctions list.

 

Video posted by SANA showing the first two chemical tankers brining gas products to Syria last week

 

These tankers appear to be a growing steady supply of crude and oil products suddenly arriving in Syria. France 24 published an exposé on March 20 tracking the growing number of tankers suddenly arriving in Syria. It believes the common link is Russia and quotes analysts speculating that Russia has made a deal to supply oil products in exchange for maintaining its military presence in Syria.

The Syrian Arab News Agency announced the first arrival of badly needed gas supplies into the country last week. It highlighted two gas tankers, Prosperity (40,000 dwt registered in Barbados) and Gas Catalina (7,800 dwt registered in Palau) arriving around March 12. Reports said another gas carrier, Proxima (40,000 dwt registered in Barbados) was also bound for Syria.

The government reports said the first gas shipments brought 34,000 tons aboard the Prosperity and another 4,000 tons on Gas Catalina. Prosperity departed on March 14. Built in 2006, the vessel was formerly the NS Pride part of the Sovcomflot fleet and is now linked to Fornex in Dubai which is known to be involved in the Russian energy trade. Prosperity has also been sanctioned by the U.S. as well as the EU and UK.