ASEAN Beat | Economy | Southeast Asia

Despite Sanctions, the Myanmar Government Continues to Procure High Volumes of Jet Fuel

An independent group examined official documents from Myanmar ports, leaked bank documents and open-source data to chart the network that supplies Myanmar with jet fuel.

MV Rasha, supplying urea and lubricants with dual use from Iran and Russia, at Yangon port in Myanmar.

Eight civilians were killed and over 20 others were injured by two airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar military in Sagaing Region’s Talaing village on June 30. Such airstrikes by the Myanmar military have grown in frequency, especially in resistance strongholds that are under the control of the opposition National Unity Government’s People’s Defense Forces.

The secret behind the Myanmar military’s increasing airstrikes is its unhindered access to jet fuel through an intricate and opaque network of intermediaries, offshore entities, and regional trading partners across several countries.

For several months after the coup of February 2021, the bulk of aviation fuel entered Myanmar as direct sales of fuel shipments, where suppliers were easily traceable. Over time, supplies became more indirect, especially after the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and other countries imposed sanctions on Myanmar.

From 2023, fuel was bought and sold more than once before being imported into Myanmar to camouflage the original suppliers.

Amnesty International and Reuters have documented the role of Iran in supplying jet fuel to Myanmar through a fleet of ghost ships that actively engage in spoofing – a technique common among cargo ships and tankers making illicit deliveries – to conceal their role.

A probe by a group of independent investigators and Burmese expatriates over the past couple of years found that the supply chain of jet fuel to Myanmar has shifted substantially after the imposition of Western sanctions. After examining official documents from several ports in Myanmar, leaked bank documents and data from open sources, the group was able to identify the network and some suppliers.

We, the two authors of this article, interviewed two investigators in the probe into the jet fuel supply chain and also examined some documents made available to us. We also sent emails to the companies allegedly involved in the jet fuel trade with questions about the findings of the investigators, but did not get replies from them.

The investigation revealed that BAI Pte Ltd, owned by Thomas Pek Ee Perh, was set up in Singapore in 2023. The company’s online presence indicates that its core business is in the food industry.

But, according to shipping documents seen by The Diplomat, BAI Pte Ltd supplies petroleum products to Myanmar-related companies and the Myanmar military. The firm is also a supplier to the Myanmar-based Myat Myittar Mon Co Ltd Group and the Shwe Byain Phyu Co Ltd, which were sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on February 1, 2024, and the Canadian government on October 31, 2023.  It also supplies petroleum products to Vital Energy Ltd, which Shwe Byain Phyu Co Ltd set up on February 7, 2024, after it came under sanctions.

Investigators into the jet fuel trade say that BAI Pte Ltd sources products from Singapore-based entities to ensure the uninterrupted flow of petroleum products to the Myanmar military and also other entities such as Heyday Energy Trading Co Ltd and Brighter Energy Co Ltd.

“Facilitating Myanmar-related trade in Singapore that involves sanctioned parties would be extremely difficult without high-level intervention or established relationships with Singaporean banks,” one of the investigators told The Diplomat on condition of anonymity.

The probe went on to unearth that the Singapore-based company’s own onboarding document is titled “Iran-Myanmar TCR 1554,” which proves its linkage with both sanctioned regimes.

The company allegedly supplied Jet A-1 fuel to Myanmar as late as June 2026 using a Bangladeshi port-of-call as cover for the actual destination. MT Great Lake, the carrying vessel, was found to have prior confirmed links with both Myanmar and firms associated with Iran.

Investigators claimed that leaked bank documents revealed that funds for these transactions were routed by the Myanmar regime via intermediaries in Thailand, such as Chern Charoen Co Ltd, Multitrade Co Ltd, Khun AR Trading, and Dynasty Power Co Ltd on behalf of Myanmar National Airlines, owned by 24hr Group, whose chairman, U Aung Aung Zaw, enjoys a close rapport with the Myanmar regime.

MT Great Lake’s Discharge at........

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