A tanker loaded with $100 million of crude oil that has been at the center of a dispute over Iraq's oil billions vanished off the coast of Texas on Thursday.
The Kurdish tanker disappeared from Coast Guard radar screens following a month of legal wrangling over whether it can offload its cargo in the U.S.
As the disintegration of Iraq amid mounting violence continues, the semi-autonomous regime in Kurdistan – in the north of Iraq – is trying to cash in on Iraq's oil reserves and export its own crude.
Oil tanker United Kalavyrta (also known as the United Kalavrvta), which is carrying a cargo of Kurdish crude oil, approaching Galveston, Texas on July 25. The boat disappeared from Coast Guard radar on Thursday
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Oil tanker United Kalavyrta (also known as the United Kalavrvta), which is carrying a cargo of Kurdish crude oil, approaching Galveston, Texas on July 25. The boat has since disappeared from Coast Guard radar
A still image from video taken by a U.S. Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft shows the oil tanker United Kalavyrta sitting in the Gulf of Mexico. It reappeared on radar on Monday
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A still image from video taken by a U.S. Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft shows the oil tanker United Kalavyrta sitting in the Gulf of Mexico
Iraqi Kurdistan has exported at least eight million barrels of oil since May, energy experts told Al Arabiya News.
But the increasingly weak regime in Baghdad is trying to keep control of its oil billions and says the Kurdish regime cannot sell the oil in the U.S.
The U.S. Coast Guard's AIS ship-tracking system showed no position for the United Kalavrvta on Thursday, which was carrying one million barrels - and was 95 per cent - when it went dark.
The tanker was attempting to unload its cargo at sea, off the coast of Texas, after leaving the Turkish port of Ceyhan in June and anchoring near the U.S. port of Galveston in late July.
The U.S. Coastguard confirmed to MailOnline today that the last contact the agency had with the United Kalavyrta was when the ship's certificate of compliance was completed on July 27.
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The vessel's disappearance is now thought to be the latest development in a high-stakes dispute between Baghdad and the Kurds over the right to export oil.
Several other tankers transporting disputed oil from Iran or Kurdistan have switched off their transponders before unloading their cargo - making their movements extremely difficult to track.
A Coast Guard official told MailOnline today that the vessel might have turned off its beacon in the Gulf of Mexico, which it is not supposed to do.
The official also said it was possible the ship had traveled outside the range of the U.S. Coastguard antennas which would account for it vanishing from the AIS ship-tracking system.
Legal dispute: The vessel's disappearance is thought to be the latest development in a high stakes argument between Baghdad and the Kurds over the right to export oil
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Legal dispute: The vessel's disappearance is thought to be the latest development in a high stakes argument between Baghdad and the Kurds over the right to export oil
Earlier this year, cutbacks in spending at the U.S. Coastguard have meant that longer-range antennas in the Gulf of Mexico have been gradually shutting down, the official said, making it harder to track ships that move further away from the shore.
U.S. Coastguard also told MailOnline on Friday that it had no plans to search areas of the Gulf where the ship had been anchored.
OFF THE RADAR: WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE OTHER SHIPS WENT DARK?
The tanker Kamari, which had been carrying a partial load of crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan turned off its satellite transponder on August 17, north of Egypt's Sinai.
It reappeared unladen on August 19 about 30 kilometers off the coast of Israel, ship tracking data on Reuters showed last week.
It was not possible to determine where the oil had been delivered to or who the buyer was.
A spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources would not comment on the tanker's temporary disappearance at the time.
Reuters reported on July 31 that tanker United Emblem, which was carrying more than 1 million barrels of Kurdish oil, had been offloaded into another tanker in the South China Sea.
A senior executive at Marine Management Services confirmed in July that the ship-to-ship transfer involving the United Emblem took place in a 'legitimate operation'.
The ship is 'fixed to a legitimate charterer and performing legitimate operations,' said Kostas Georgopoulos, the chartering manager at Marine Management Services
'The ship is still in international waters,' he added.
The agency has a HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft at its disposal which last took images of the oil tanker United Kalavyrta on July 25.
Only a few days ago, the partially-full Kamari tanker carrying Kurdish crude oil, disappeared from satellite tracking north of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
Two days later, the empty vessel reappeared near Israel.
In late July, the tanker United Emblem offloaded part of its cargo of Kurdish crude oil onto another ship in the South China Sea.
The evasive behavior is the result of Baghdad wanting to block the Kurds from exporting the oil as they believe they have the exclusive right to do so.
The Iraqi government in Baghdad has filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court to reclaim control of the United Kalavrvta cargo and block the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) from delivering its cargo.
The suit demonstrates that Baghdad is now stepping up their legal and diplomatic push to block Kurdistan's oil deals, which they view as smuggling.
However, the Kurds see such deals as crucial to their own dreams of independence.
On Monday, the U.S. court threw out the order saying it lacked jurisdiction to seize the tanker as it disappeared some 60 miles off their coast.
But the judge invited Iraq to re-plead its case over the cargo's rightful ownership.
The issue is expected to fuel tensions between Washington and Baghdad, as in theory, Iraq can file claims against anyone taking delivery of the oil.
A Coast Guard official said the vessel in the Gulf of Mexico might have turned off its beacon, sailed beyond antennas that monitor transponders, or perhaps some antennas might have been taken out of service.
However, dozens of vessels were visible on Thursday in the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area, where the Kurdish tanker was last seen.
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