In the year leading up to its dramatic seizure by US forces in the Indian Ocean, the oil tanker known as the MT Tifani made several trips between Iran and a stretch of water off the coast of Malaysia, around 60 miles from the glitzy skyscrapers of Singapore.
During these trips, it often loitered in a small area before dropping anchor and switching off its mandatory automatic identification system (AIS), according to MarineTraffic data reviewed by CNN.
A while later — sometimes hours, sometimes days — the ship would reappear on AIS.
The seizure of the MT Tifani on Tuesday — and the 1.9 million barrels of Iranian oil US authorities say it was carrying — has pushed the war with…