US bans Indian shipping company for transporting Iran oil

An Indian shipping company, Gabbaro Ship Services, is one of several firms sanctioned by the U.S. for allegedly transporting Iranian oil to buyers in Asia, shortly after the US imposed restrictions on Iran's energy trade in response to its October 1 attack on Israel, PTI reported.

The State Department claims that Gabbaro Ship Services acted as the technical manager for the crude oil tanker Hornet and knowingly participated in a significant transaction involving the transportation of petroleum from Iran, linking it to a 'Ghost Fleet.'

The recent U.S. sanctions targeting various companies globally are a response to Iran's ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1.

“This attack targeted Israel’s most populated city, Tel Aviv, and could have killed hundreds if not thousands of innocent people,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.

Following that attack, the US had made it clear that Iran would face severe consequences, he said, and added, that the departments of the Treasury and State on Friday announced the “new and significant measures to more effectively target Iran’s energy trade.”

Steps against `Ghost Fleet'

“The new designations today also include measures against the 'Ghost Fleet' that carries Iran’s illicit oil to buyers around the world. These measures will help further deny Iran financial resources used to support its missile programmes and provide support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States, its allies, and partners,” Mr Sullivan said.

The Treasury claimed Iran’s oil exports are enabled by a network of illicit shipping facilitators in multiple jurisdictions which, “through obfuscation and deception,” load and transport Iranian oil for sale to buyers in Asia.

Prominent among them include the United Arab Emirates-based Max Maritime Solutions FZE (Max Maritime), which, it alleged, used vessels under its management to conduct multiple ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil with vessels affiliated with the US-designated National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC).

The NITC moves Iranian oil for the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to transport to refineries in China.

Many companies banned

Among the companies sanctioned by the State Department are Suriname-based Strong Roots Provider NV, Glazing Future Management NV, Engen Management NV; India-based Gabbaro Ship Services Pvt Ltd; Malaysia-based Alya Marine Sendirian Berhad, and Hong Kong-based Celia Armas Ltd.

Secretary of the Treasury Janet L Yellen said, “Today’s sanctions target Iranian efforts to channel revenues from its energy industry to finance deadly and disruptive activity with dangerous consequences for the region and the world.

Ms Yellen described the deadly and disruptive activity as including the development of Iran's nuclear programme, the proliferation of ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, and support to regional terrorist proxies. “We will not hesitate to take further action to hold Iran accountable,” she said.

(By arrangement with livemint.com)