Loss of a signal sent to a maritime tracking system indicates that a tanker loaded with 1 million barrels of oil from Iraq’s Kurdish region may have departed its position 60 miles off the Port of Galveston, Texas, where it had remained anchored since late July. Legal disputes over ownership of the crude aboard the United Kalavryta prevented its delivery.
The Iraqi government alleges that the crude was smuggled from the country.
The Houston Chronicle reported that the tracking system senses ships near many ports, but does not cover open ocean. Signals stopped the night of Aug. 25. A Coast Guard spokesman told the Chronicle without elaborating that there were reports the tanker left the area.
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