Myanmar uses 'ghost ships' to import aviation fuel for deadly air attacks, Amnesty says

BANGKOK (AP) — Military-ruled Myanmar appears to have adopted the tactics of sanction-busting nations such as Russia, Iran and North Korea by using evasive sailing routes and dodgy ships to disguise the sources of aviation fuel it uses for air attacks in the country’s civil war, the human rights group Amnesty International said Monday.

The London-based group’s investigation said its analysis of trade, shipping, satellite and port authority data indicates that the Myanmar military is importing the jet fuel on “ghost ships” that turn off their Automatic Identification System — AIS — location-tracking radios to avoid detection.

Myanmar imported over 109,000 tonnes of aviation fuel in 2025, an increase of 69% over the previous year and the highest volume since the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, says Amnesty’s report.

“Five years after the coup, our analysis shows that the Myanmar junta continues to evade sanctions and find new ways to import the jet fuel it uses to bomb its own civilians — with 2025 being the deadliest year on record for aerial attacks since the junta takeover in 2021,” said Montse Ferrer, Amnesty’s regional research director.

Opponents of Myanmar’s military government have described cutting off its supply of aviation fuel as crucial to curbing its war-making capacity, which has resulted in many civilian casualties.

The number of civilians killed in airstrikes is not clear, but since the army takeover sparked nationwide resistance, more than 7,700 civilians have been killed by state security forces, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a watchdog group that tracks political arrests, attacks and casualties.

Various though not comprehensive international sanctions led by the United States and Britain haven’t been effective in stopping the air attacks, whose targets have no effective defense, according to Amnesty.

The military actions are also supported by arms, largely from Russia and China, major allies of the ruling generals.

Amnesty said its investigation had confirmed the delivery of at least nine separate shipments of aviation fuel to Myanmar by four vessels between mid-2024 and the end of 2025, while also uncovering significant changes to how aviation fuel has entered Myanmar during this period.

These include utilizing ghost ships whose AIS radios are either turned off or broadcast false positions, and vessels that repeatedly change their name, flag or ownership, and often load fuel through open-water ship-to-ship transfers, instead of in ports and terminals, says Amnesty.

Myanmar’s military government did not immediately respond to questions about the Amnesty report.

Such tactics have been used been used for several years by oil exporters including Iran, Venezuela and especially Russia after it faced a barrage of sanctions in response to its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. North Korea, an oil importer, also is reported to use ghost ships, popularly dubbed a “shadow fleet.”

Amnesty acknowledged it was unable to confirm the suppliers or origin of the aviation fuel, but said the evasion tactics “mirror methods commonly used by tankers that move sanctioned fuel from Iran.”

Amnesty has called for a ban on shipping aviation fuel to Myanmar and withdrawal of all companies involved in the supply chain to prevent further civilian harm.

A report it issued in 2022 revealed that multinational companies based in Singapore and Thailand were part of a supply chain that delivered aviation fuel to Myanmar.

It said that after sanctions were then introduced on parts of the supply chain, “fuel was bought and resold multiple times to obscure its origin. At least nine shipments reached Myanmar in 2023 and early 2024, many routed through a Vietnam storage unit, revealing deliberate sanctions‑evasion tactics.”