US sanctions more vessels for shipping illicit Iranian oil products
Washington has sanctioned ten vessels and several shipping companies for transporting illicit Iranian oil products.
PHOTO: Flags of the US and Iran. Getty Images
In efforts to crackdown Tehran’s ‘shadow fleet’, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned shipping companies and vessels that have been allegedly involved in “trafficking arms, laundering money, and shipping illicit Iranian petroleum for the benefit of the Houthis.”
These vessels primarily consist of older and environmentally hazardous vessels that intentionally evade regulations. Shadow fleet owners are infamous for the covert practice of forging documents to avoid industry standards.
The latest vessels added to the sanctions list have used unfair means such as false documentation, manipulation of vessel tracking systems, and changes to the names and flags of vessels, to transport its oil and petroleum products primarily to China, OFAC argued.
The US treasury department has sanctioned Malaysia-based companies Blu Shipping, Tefcas Marine, and Merkur Energy Port Services for providing services to the previously US-sanctioned vessels RENEEZ and YORGOS, which have transported “tens of thousands of metric tons of Iranian commodities,” OFAC said.
OFAC has also sanctioned Safwan Al-Dubai Company of Shipping and Trade, which is "a Yemen-based shipping and logistics company that Houthi procurement officials have used to import dual-use items and other weapons components into Yemen,” it said.
OFAC has sanctioned 10 vessels, including the Djibouti-flagged crude oil tanker MS ENOLA, San Marino-flagged MS ANGIA, and the Panama-flagged MS MELENIA, among others, for the illicit transfer of Iranian oil for several years.
The sanctions list includes more vessels and companies for conducting these oil shipments, such as Seychelles-based Shiny Sails Shipping, India-based Atlantic Navigation, Suriname-based Galaxy Management NV, and Hong Kong-based Brecalin Hong Kong for having knowingly engaged in a “significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran,” OFAC said.
By Aparupa Mazumder
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