Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
Journalist and activist Baseem Al-Janani has revealed a new scandal involving petroleum imports into Yemen. He reported that the oil tanker Palm was allowed to dock at Ras Issa Port, carrying 37,602 tons of petroleum. This tanker was followed by the vessel Al-Ghatis, which arrived around the same time.
The Palm tanker belongs to the same company as the Love tanker, previously known for carrying the adulterated “Taj Oscar” petroleum—raising suspicions about the quality of the fuel onboard Palm.
Al-Janani noted that another tanker, Red Roby, had recently undergone fuel sample testing in Hodeidah after inspection equipment was brought in from Sana’a. The test results came back clean.
However, the surprising development came when authorities suddenly prevented the testing of a sample from the Palm tanker, citing the “commotion” that had been stirred up around it. Instead, it was decided to send the sample to Sana’a for testing rather than conducting it in Hodeidah.
According to Al-Janani, a decision was made to begin unloading the petroleum from the Palm tanker into the market starting today, Saturday, despite ongoing concerns about its quality.
This decision raises serious questions about transparency in petroleum import operations and possible efforts to cover up fuel fraud.
