Downed Apache helicopter aided ship oil transfers, same tactic Iran used to skirt sanctions: report

An Apache helicopter that Iranian forces shot down earlier this month was reportedly involved in ship-to-ship oil transfer missions conducted to keep energy flowing through the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict. 

The United States military has been using this technique to get oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, and it's the same tactics employed by Iran to skirt sanctions, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources. 

The shuttling operations are carried out at the edge of the strait and involve secretly transferring oil to awaiting tankers at two locations in the Gulf of Oman — one off the coast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates and the ​other off Oman’s port of Sohar. The convoys are guided to the tankers by helicopters and drones. 

The Apache helicopter — which was shot down on June 9, sparking retaliatory action from the U.S. — was involved in these operations, according to the sources. Satellite imagery showed six pairs of tanker ships clustered together near Sohar the day the helicopter was shot down. 

A U.S. defense official told Reuters that no Central Command forces have taken part in any ship-to-ship oil transfer operations. 

At least 92 ships have been involved in the transfers, according to satellite imagery.