A Known Iranian Arms Ship Heads Home Just in Time
A known Iranian arms smuggling container ship has been spotted in the Red Sea on its way home after spending three weeks loitering outside the Port of Tobruk, Libya.
The MV Elyana (IMO: 9165827) is linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL) which as an entity is subject to secondary sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Additionally, the MV Elyana has been specifically sanctioned by name.
The ship has an established history of use by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for shipping arms. In June 2024, the Elyana unloaded cargo in Latakia, in Syria, which had been taken on in Bandar Abbas. Hitherto, when President Assad was in power, the IRGC used Latakia as a hub for their arms imports, IRGC cargos destined for Hezbollah and the Syrian regime were shipped into the port of Latakia, or flown in by Boeing 747 cargo aircraft flights using Latakia International Airport.
On its latest journey, the Elyana set off from Bandar Abbas on April 18, making a port call in Jebel Ali - notwithstanding the ship’s sanctioned status - from whence she departed on April 21.
It is not known what cargo, if any, the Elyana took on at Jebel Ali. But the ship then took a leisurely 13 days to reach the southern end of the Suez Canal without making any declared port call. As it is equipped with deck davit cranes, the Elyana would be capable of off-loading cargo at unsophisticated ports en route, potentially being able to do so in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, or in Sudan. A transit from Jebel Ali to the Suez Canal normally takes six days.
After transiting the Suez Canal, the Elyana made for Tobruk, where she anchored for three weeks. The port of Tobruk is managed by the forces of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who controls Eastern Libya and Libya’s oilfields. The UN-recognized and Islamist-inclined national government controls Western Libya and the capital Tripoli.
Haftar is supported by the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the rebel RSF faction in Sudan, not normally regarded as Iranian allies. But Haftar is also supported by Russia, which - until last week - was considered a close Iranian ally.
The main backers of the recognized government in Tripoli are Turkey and Qatar. France and the United States are ambivalently neutral, Italy resolutely so. Who therefore is sponsoring the Elyana’s cargo, or working to enable its delivery, is thus a complete mystery.
The MV Elyana left the anchorage off Tobruk on May 30, possibly having come into the port briefly on the day of its departure. By June 5 the MV Elyana was stationary in the Suez South Anchorage after a southerly transit of the Suez Canal. On June 15, MV Elyana was heading down the Red Sea adjacent to territory controlled by the Houthis, and is expected to arrrive in Jebel Ali on June 22. It remains to be seen if it cuts short its journey or stops off en route, and whether it will head home for Bandar Abbas or perhaps wait awhile in the Northern Arabian Sea.