Zombie Tanker Turns Up at Northern Chinese Port Laden With Oil

Singapore-flagged oil tanker EM Longevity made its final voyage almost three years ago, after more than two decades at sea. Earlier this month, ship-tracking data showed it arriving at a Chinese port, loaded with crude and ready to discharge.

With the expansion of the dark fleet moving restricted oil around the world, new tactics are constantly emerging. So-called “zombie vessels”, which assume the identity of legitimate but defunct ships, are among the tools used by operators to circumvent tightening restrictions and to manipulate the Automatic Identification System, or AIS, tracking system.

In this case, the EM Longevity was a very-large ...