Panama deregisters suspected sanctions-busting ships
The government of Panama says it has revoked the registration of an unspecified number of ships, explaining this was a continuing process for vessels that had committed infractions such as busting sanctions on Iran and North Korea.
‘This Administration in the period from July 2019 to date has canceled ex officio more than 6.5 million TRBs, according to the Panama Maritime Authority database, due to ships related to Iran, North Korea or that have been included in the list of international sanctions,’ the authority said on 21 June.
The announcement did not explain how many vessels had been affected, instead giving the figure in TRBs, an antiquated measurement of a vessel’s total volume. Nor did it elaborate on the reasons for the action.
It explained that the action was in response ‘to a commitment from the current Administration, to comply with a commitment to clean up the fleet.’
It also warned that the country’s ‘Merchant Navy can penalise the owners, shipowners and the captain with the expulsion of the ship when the image and good name of the Panamanian Merchant Registry is harmed.’
Both North Korea and Iran have reportedly used flags of convenience from maritime nations such as Panama for illicit activities such as ship-to-ship transfers of sanctioned goods.
