Justice For Myanmar calls for new and coordinated sanctions on junta’s aviation fuel supply chain

Justice For Myanmar calls on the EU, UK, Canadian, US and Australian governments to immediately impose new targeted and coordinated sanctions against vessels and companies involved in the illegal Myanmar junta’s aviation fuel supply chain and ensure aviation fuel exports to Myanmar are banned.

The continued trade in aviation fuel with the military junta is sustaining the junta’s aerial campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar, which involved an unprecedented number of airstrikes in 2025 alone, ahead of the junta’s preparation for its sham election. These airstrikes destroy schools, hospitals and whole communities, kill children and drive mass displacement.

Data published by the Myanma Port Authority, which is under the junta’s illegal control, shows that jet fuel imports to Myanmar almost doubled between 2024 and 2025, from 64,562 metric tonnes to 106,604 metric tonnes.

Recent publications by Amnesty International and Reuters provide new evidence that these imports are now being enabled by the supply of aviation fuel from Iran’s “shadow fleet”.

Governments must act now to urgently expand sanctions on the vessels, the owners, commercial and international safety management (ISM) managers, a fuel terminal and a state-owned enterprise illegally controlled by the junta that is central to this supply chain of terror. This would not only disrupt the junta’s ability to continue to launch airstrikes against civilians, but it would also strengthen existing sanctions aimed at limiting Iran’s ability to export fuel at a time when the Iranian regime has brutally cracked down on peaceful protests with mass killings.

Based on recent research by Amnesty International, Justice For Myanmar calls for sanctions on the following vessels for their role in transporting aviation fuel to Myanmar:

1. BARAAWE 1 (previously named MT. HUITONG 78 / ZHOU HAI YOU 78), IMO Number 9646479, which delivered 9 shipments of aviation fuel to Myanmar in 2023 and 2024.
2. LS MERCURY (previously named MT. YONG SHENG 56), IMO Number 9657507, which delivered a shipment of aviation fuel to Myanmar in 2024.
3. REEF (previously named BALTIC HORIZON and PETRA), IMO Number 9263382, which delivered three shipments of aviation fuel to Myanmar in 2024 and 2025.
4. NOBLE (previously named ASTRA, TRAA3 and HURON), IMO Number 9162928, which delivered four shipments of aviation fuel to Myanmar in 2025.

Since the EU, UK, Canadian, US and Australian governments first began sanctioning the junta’s aviation fuel supply chain in 2023, the junta and its enablers have been going to new lengths to evade sanctions and hide aviation fuel shipments.

To counter tactics of sanctions evasion and send a strong message of deterrence, Justice For Myanmar also calls for sanctions on the owners and managers of the above vessels, based on publicly available information, in addition to a fuel terminal and the junta’s central body for aviation fuel import, storage and distribution, based on public information:

1. Abu Marine Co. Ltd., domiciled in the Marshall Islands, is the owner of BARAAWE 1.
2. Pacific Light Operation and Ship Management, domiciled in the UAE, is the ISM manager of BARAAWE 1.
3. Allsea Management JSC, domiciled in Vietnam, is the commercial manager and ISM manager of MERCURY.
4. Legendsea Co. Ltd., domiciled in Vietnam, is the owner of MERCURY.
5. Sea Route Ship Management FZE, domiciled in the UAE, is the ISM manager and commercial manager of NOBLE and REEF.
6. Amethyst Maritime Ventures SA, domiciled in the UAE, is the owner of REEF.
7. Sea Hill Maritime SA, domiciled in the UAE, is the owner of NOBLE. Amethyst Maritime Ventures SA and Sea Hill Maritime SA are registered at the same address in the Hamriyah Free Zone, Sharjah.
8. Hai Linh Co. Ltd., a Vietnamese company that operates Cai Mep Petroleum Terminal, which Amnesty International found to have been used to transship aviation fuel to Myanmar and obscure its real destination.
9. Myanma Petrochemical Enterprise (MPE), a state-owned enterprise illegally controlled by the military junta that controls the aviation fuel supply chain in Myanmar, operates the Mann Refinery which produces aviation fuel, and jointly owns businesses that import, store and distribute aviation fuel with the heavily sanctioned Myan Oil group (formerly known as Shoon and Asia Sun).

REEF and NOBLE are reported to be part of Iran’s network of vessels used to covertly transport illicit cargo, and both vessels have a history of transporting sanctioned fuel from Iran.

NOBLE, REEF, along Sea Route Ship Management FZE, were sanctioned by the US Government in 2024 for trading in Iranian petrochemical products.

In November 2022, Amnesty International produced a report “Deadly Cargo” with research supported by Justice For Myanmar, revealing the Myanmar military’s jet fuel supply chain and its links to commission of atrocity crimes. Subsequent Amnesty reports in January and July 2024 detailed how jet fuel shipments continued with methods shifting from direct sales to buying and reselling of fuel multiple times to obscure its origin.

Justice For Myanmar has previously welcomed the sanctions designations of military jet fuel suppliers and repeatedly called on governments to enforce jet fuel sanctions on Myanmar.

Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “A supply chain that stretches from Vietnam to Iran is fuelling the Myanmar military’s international crimes, enabling airstrikes that terrorise the people of Myanmar.

“The involvement of Vietnam also underscores the failure of ASEAN, which continues to impede an effective international response to the Myanmar crisis while some of its members profit.

“Every aviation fuel shipment that reaches the Myanmar military enables its warplanes to terrorise Myanmar people from the skies. But these operations can be stopped through coordinated action. The vessels, their owners, managers and other entities involved can and must be sanctioned in all jurisdictions.

“To date, only Canada has moved to ban the export, sale, supply and shipment of aviation fuel and provision of shipping insurance for aviation fuel to Myanmar. Other governments must follow Canada’s lead to end this bloody trade.

“The lives of the people of Myanmar depend on urgent action against these vessels and companies enabling and profiting from the junta’s barrage of killings.”

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Download the press release (English I Myanmar)