A shipment officially described as South African diesel arrived in Myanmar aboard the tanker Reef in December 2025. Its actual cargo, according to a new investigation, was approximately 113,000 barrels of Iranian jet fuel. The paperwork was allegedly part of a scheme involving private intermediaries and Myanmar's military-controlled authorities to conceal aviation fuel imports despite American sanctions.
An investigation published by Reuters on October 26, based on contracts, shipping records and satellite imagery, identified Myanmar-based Dynamic Wave and Thailand's Tawan-Oil Trading as the companies behind a $15.8 million transaction. Documents described the purchase as South African diesel, although the tanker had reportedly travelled from Iran's Bandar Abbas port carrying aviation fuel.
The most consequential evidence concerns the involvement of Myanmar's own regulatory authorities. A November 30, 2025 letter obtained by investigators reportedly showed the country's foreign exchange regulator agreeing to issue import documents describing the consignment as diesel rather than jet fuel. The correspondence also authorised payments involving Dynamic Wave, Tawan-Oil Trading and National Energy Prime Aviation Services Company, which is partly owned by Myanmar's military-backed government.
The alleged arrangement was not isolated. A second contract signed in May 2025 described the purchase of 202,000 barrels of South African diesel for approximately $26 million. The tanker Noble subsequently arrived in Yangon carrying nearly 200,000 barrels of jet fuel, according to shipment records examined in the investigation. Its transmitted location data reportedly suggested a destination in Bangladesh, while satellite analysis placed the vessel at Bandar Abbas before its journey to Myanmar.
The vessels had attracted scrutiny before the latest disclosures. In January, Amnesty International documented how tankers supplying Myanmar manipulated tracking signals, switched off identification systems and changed registration details to obscure their movements. Its investigation identified both Reef and Noble as vessels associated with Iranian fuel shipments, although Amnesty could not independently establish the origin of every cargo.
The financial arrangements also raise questions about banking oversight. The newly examined contracts directed payments towards Tawan-Oil Trading's account at Thailand's Siam Commercial Bank. Earlier United Nations investigations had identified Tawan-Oil Trading among companies supplying aviation fuel to Myanmar's military, demonstrating how commercial intermediaries could obscure transactions connected to military procurement.
Washington has sought to disrupt this supply chain. In March 2023, the US Treasury sanctioned companies involved in importing and distributing jet fuel to Myanmar's armed forces. It expanded those measures in August, targeting additional suppliers and establishing broader sanctions authority over the country's aviation fuel sector. The restrictions were intended to constrain air operations associated with attacks on civilian populations.
Yet fuel imports continued. Amnesty's analysis of Myanmar Port Authority figures found that at least 109,604 tonnes of aviation fuel entered the country in 2025, a 69% increase over the previous year. The watchdog also documented at least nine shipments delivered by four vessels between mid-2024 and December 2025.
The military implications are considerable. Aviation fuel supports civilian transport but also sustains Myanmar's air force, which has increasingly relied on aircraft to attack resistance-held territory. The activist group Justice for Myanmar has called for coordinated sanctions against companies and vessels involved in the trade.
Neither the military authorities in Myanmar nor the companies implicated in the transactions have publicly provided explanations establishing why jet fuel was described as diesel. The original contracts and regulatory correspondence have not been independently published in full.
The disclosures indicate that restrictions on known suppliers have not stopped Myanmar from obtaining aviation fuel. They also identify a more difficult enforcement problem: determining who controls a shipment when its origin, contents, destination and commercial documentation do not agree.
