Hezbollah-Linked LPG Tanker Sails to East Mediterranean

On March 27, the U.S.-sanctioned liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker Marina (IMO 9005493) was identified sailing between Cyprus and Syria (see image below), signaling a final destination of Beirut via its automatic identification system (AIS). The ship then went offline—i.e., switched off its AIS—suggesting it may have continued its journey to Syria’s Baniyas oil terminal. Such behavior would match that of several other Syria-bound ships tracked by the author in recent years (and recent months) as they seek to obfuscate tracking of their navigation off Syria’s coast by using Lebanon as a fake destination (see analysis here and here). 

The Marina case raises several additional questions given that the U.S. Department of the Treasury identified the vessel in September 2024 as property in which Lebanese Hezbollah has an interest. Notably, Maritime Spotlight cannot yet confirm that the vessel is still linked to Hezbollah, and has not yet received a satellite image confirming its final destination. But the sanctioning of the ship by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, and its implicit involvement in energy deals conducted by a network linked to Hezbollah and Iran—along with its history of delivering LPG to Syria—calls for attention and investigation from officials in Washington. 

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The most recent AIS data on the Marina’s voyage—which was gathered by the author via MarineTraffic—has been confirmed with fellow tracker Samir Madani of TankerTrackers.com. And Bridget Diakun, an analyst with Lloyd’s List Intelligence, confirmed that on March 23 the LPG tanker even briefly signaled a destination of Baniyas before switching to Beirut the next day. Similar navigational behavior was observed earlier this month, particularly in Russia-linked oil tankers heading to Syria, as discussed in a Washington Institute analysis published March 5. Data from MarineTraffic shows that the Marina was in the Black Sea earlier this month and seen at Kerch, in Russia-occupied Crimea. 

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Profile of the Marina

The Marina, whose name appears to have been changed in some databases to Cayka, was involved in transporting LPG to Syria before the December 2024 collapse of the Assad regime. In 2022, sailing under the Togolese flag, the ship traveled from Turkey’s Dortyol port to Baniyas while falsely signaling a destination of Beirut. The Marina is among a few LPG tankers to have transported LPG to Syria in recent years with frequent trips between Dortyol and Baniyas. Others include the Tanzania-flagged Alpha Gas (IMO 8817693), which the U.S. Treasury Department likewise identified as being linked to Hezbollah—and which was seen earlier this month in the Black Sea. 

In a September 11, 2024, press release, the Treasury Department highlighted its actions against individuals involved in Hezbollah’s financial operations, including Muhammad Qasir (who was killed by Israeli forces in October 2024) and Muhammad Qasim al-Bazzal. These two “prominent” group officials were accused of managing a “channel for transporting LPG and other oil distillates on behalf of [Hezbollah].” The release noted further that a Bazzal-represented company identified as European Lebanese International Trade S.A.R.L. (ELIT) was involved in transporting “dozens of LPG shipments” carried by the Alpha Gas and Marina to the Baniyas port. Bazzal reportedly “procured” the Marina in 2020 and “reached an agreement to pay for the purchase” of the Alpha Gas in 2022 from Hokoul, identified by the Treasury Department as a front company for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Qods Force. (Bazzal was targeted in a further Treasury Department action on March 28. For a deeper discussion of Hezbollah procurement channels, see this analysis by Washington Institute expert Matthew Levitt.)

What to Watch 

Illicit shipping and oil smuggling networks don’t die—they evolve. Accordingly, and based on the discussion in this post, U.S. officials and analysts should keep monitoring the Marina and Alpha Gas with an eye to whether their ownership changes or stays the same. As noted by the Treasury Department in its March 28 statement, ownership of shipping companies can be transferred to mask connections to U.S. adversaries and terrorist groups like Hezbollah.