The US has imposed sanctions on a Marshall Islands-registered shipowner and two tankers for allegedly shipping Iranian oil to finance Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.

Gemini Marine is the owner of two tankers involved in allegedly illicit shipments of Iranian and Russian oil, according to the US Treasury Department.

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Treasury said the Gabon-flagged 150,000-dwt Izumo (built 2001) is transporting oil products on behalf of Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars, a front company for the Iranian military.

The suezmax offloaded 1m barrels of Iranian oil at the weekend at a Malaysian refinery, according to Kpler tracking data. The barrels were loaded on the Izumo during a ship-to-ship transfer with an unknown vessel while automatic identification systems were switched off, the data platform said.

The Izumo is also said to have hauled petroleum products for the network of sanctioned Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal.

The network has provided “tens of millions of dollars” of revenue from illicit oil sales to support attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea, said the Treasury.

Also on the sanctions list is the 105,500-dwt Frunze (built 2003), a second ship owned by Gemini, which has been linked to the transport of illicit Iranian oil, according to the US.

The tanker loaded a suspected Iranian cargo during a suspected dark ship-to-ship transfer before delivering the cargo to China, according to the Kpler data. It is currently on a ballast leg signalling for the Gulf of Oman.

Treasury official Bradley Smith, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, said: “The Houthis continue to leverage their networks of companies and procurement operatives to sustain their reckless attacks on civilian vessels, their unarmed crews and civilian populations.”

Gemini could not be reached for comment.

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