Sanctions News

The United States hit North Korea and Russia on Monday with new sanctions that the Treasury Department said targeted Pyongyang's financial activities and military support to Moscow.The sanctions, which list North Korean banks, generals and other officials as well as Russian oil shipping companies, are the latest U.S. measure aimed at disrupting North Korea's support to Russia's war in Ukraine.The North Korean banks targeted include Golden Triangle Bank and Korea Mandal Credit Bank…

Twelve Western countries have agreed measures to "disrupt and deter" Russia's so-called shadow fleet of vessels in order to prevent sanctions breaches and increase the cost to Moscow of the war in Ukraine, Estonia's government said on Monday.The measures were agreed by Germany, Britain, Poland, the Netherlands, the five Nordic nations and the three Baltic states, said Estonia, where leaders of the 10-nation Joint Expeditionary Force were due to meet on Tuesday.Western nations…

The European Commission has welcomed the EU Council's adoption of the 15th sanctions package against Russia. The focus of this package is to keep cracking down on Russia's shadow fleet.With this package, the EU has, for the first time, imposed ‘fully-fledged' sanctions (travel ban, asset freeze and prohibition to make economic resources available) on various Chinese actors.The 15th package includes anti-circumvention measures. It targets 52 new vessels from Russia's shadow fleet, increasing the total number of such listings to 79.

The Panama Maritime Authority has initiated the expedited cancellation of six Panamanian vessels included in the UK Sanctions List – Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK.The six ships were added to the UK list on November 25.“The State has the responsibility to guarantee the well-being of the Panamanian Registry, free of international sanctions and of vessels linked to or included in sanctions lists that may affect the prestige of the flag. This is a priority issue for this administration…

European Union envoys will discuss a 15th package of sanctions in response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including on tankers carrying Russian oil and Chinese firms involved in making drones for Moscow, EU diplomats said.A total of 29 entities and 54 individuals are lined up to be added to more than 2,200 on the existing sanctions list, which bans travel and freezes their assets within the 27-member bloc, the diplomats said.

Germany has refused to allow a Russian LNG shipment at the Brunsbuttel terminal in northern Germany in line with Berlin's policy not to import LNG from Russia, industry sources said on Thursday.The Financial Times reported earlier on Thursday that Germany's economy ministry BMWK had instructed the Deutsche Energy Terminal not to accept any deliveries of Russian LNG after the company informed Berlin that its Brunsbuttel import facility was set to receive a Russian cargo on Sunday.It was not clear who ordered the shipment.

In response to recent media reports regarding a Seaman’s Book allegedly found with a Lebanese national naval officer, the Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) has issued a statement clarifying the following:“The individual mentioned holds a Seaman’s Book issued by the Republic of Panama, with an endorsement - meaning official recognition of the title - which was requested at our international offices in 2022. At that time, the individual was not listed by the United Nations as a terrorist…

The United States has imposed sanctions on hundreds of entities and individuals for supporting Russia's war effort in Ukraine, including companies supporting the development of Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project and its shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as other future energy projects.The Arctic LNG 2 project by Russia's Novatek is subject to Western sanctions over Russia's conflict with Ukraine. The project had been due to become Russia's largest LNG plant with eventual…

The Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) has introduced a legal mechanism enabling the immediate revocation of registration and navigation licenses for vessels in the national merchant fleet that appear on international sanctions lists. Additionally, any other navigation documents issued by the PMA will also be invalidated.On October 18, 2024, Executive Decree No. 512 was published in the Official Gazette, outlining the cancellation of vessels or registered owners listed in the following:• Sanctions Lists issued by the U.S.

The United States expanded sanctions against Iran's petroleum and petrochemical sectors on Friday in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israel, the administration of President Joe Biden said.The U.S. move adds petroleum and petrochemicals to an executive order that targets key sectors of Iran's economy with the aim of denying the government funds to support its nuclear and missile programs."The new designations today also include measures against the 'Ghost Fleet' that carries Iran’s illicit oil to buyers around the world…

A new analysis from Windward reports a 20% decrease in the volume of direct oil voyages out of Russia in Q3 2024 compared to Q2.Q3 2024 marked the lowest monthly average of direct voyages from Russia to China since March 2023. When compared to Q2 2024 averages, there is a decrease of 12% in such voyages.This is the first total volume decrease since the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine and is likely related to the slight decrease in port calls in Russia this quarter.However…

The Pioneer tanker, sanctioned by the United States over its links to Russia-sourced liquefied natural gas (LNG), has passed through the Suez Canal with an LNG cargo, LSEG data showed on Monday.The source of the LNG and Palau-flagged Pioneer's destination were not immediately clear. The tanker is registered to Zara Shipholding Co, which has offices in Dubai and India's Mumbai.Shippers have largely shunned the Suez route since late last year to avoid attacks by Iran-aligned Houthis in the Red Sea.The canal is a key trade link between Europe and Asia, channeling nearly 12% of global cargo.

Britain on Thursday sanctioned five vessels and two associated entities involved in the shipping of Russian LNG, with the government saying it was using new legal powers for the first time to target LNG vessels directly."Earlier this year, the UK sanctioned Arctic LNG 2, alongside our allies in the US and EU. Since then, the project has been forced to slash production," the government statement said."Today’s action builds on this by targeting ships and entities involved in the Russian LNG sector…

The U.S. Department of Treasury on Wednesday sanctioned more than a dozen entities and vessels over their involvement in the shipment of Iranian crude oil and liquid petroleum gas to Syria and East Asia on behalf of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah.Four ships associated with the fleet of Syrian shipping magnate Abdul Jalil Mallah, who was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2021, and his brother, Luay al-Mallah, were among the vessels included in Wednesday's action, the Treasury Department said in a statement. Luay al-Mallah was designated under U.S.

Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia at the Netherlands' main terminal in Rotterdam have risen in recent months, underlining the need for further sanctions, the Dutch government said on Monday.Imports of Russian LNG at the GATE terminal in Europe's largest sea port have increased in the third quarter, as the average number of Russian carriers that arrived there doubled to two per month, the government said.This increase could be an effect of new sanctions that came into effect this summer…

Britain has slapped sanctions on 10 further ships in Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" of vessels which it says use illicit practices to avoid Western restrictions on Russian oil.Russia rejects Western pressure to limit its oil exports, and in the past year there has been a growth in the number of tankers transporting cargoes that are not regulated or insured by conventional Western providers."Today’s sanctions further undermine Russia’s ability to trade in oil via its shadow fleet," British foreign minister David Lammy said in a statement on Wednesday.The foreign ministry said the action take

The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on two companies and two vessels linked to Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project, Washington's latest step to add costs on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.The Arctic 2 project, 60% owned by Russia's Novatek had been due to become Russia's largest liquefied natural gas plant with eventual output of 19.8 million metric tons per year of LNG from three trains.Novatek may be forced to scale back the project following a a raft of U.S. sanctions including ones imposed in August.The U.S.

A U.S.-sanctioned gas tanker that picked up a cargo from Russia's new Arctic LNG 2 plant this month has been spotted carrying out a ship-to-ship transfer, suggesting Moscow is managing to continue some exports from the project.Monitoring service TankerTrackers.com said in an X post on Monday that the Pioneer had conducted a transfer to the Palau-flagged, UAE-owned and Indian-managed New Energy tanker north of the Suez Canal.The Arctic 2 LNG plant, which was planned to be Russia's largest…

Britain added 11 new shipping sanctions under its Russia sanctions regime related to the war in Ukraine, an official notice showed on Thursday.The government said the sanctions on ships including Zaliv Amurskiy and SCF Pechora relate to the carrying of oil or oil products from Russia to a third country.The ships are believed to have the flags of Panama, Gabon and the Cook Islands, the government notice said.Last month, Britain imposed its first sanctions targeting vessels in Russian…

The Greek navy this week extended an advisory effectively banning ship traffic off the coast of the southeastern Peloponnese and further, in a bid to deter ship-to-ship transfers of Russian oil off Greece, three sources said.Greece, over the past months, has been issuing and extending such advisories for military exercises off the Laconian Gulf and even further, off the island of Kithira, urging merchant and other vessels to avoid the area.The latest advisory was extended until Sept.

Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA has begun using tankers that navigate off radar to supply its closest political ally, Cuba, as a fleet of state-owned vessels that have historically covered the route dwindles, according to documents and ship monitoring services.Cuba and its main oil supplier, Venezuela, for over a decade had exclusively used their own tankers to navigate between the two countries.Delayed maintenance, however, has taken some ships out of service and the emergence…

Sanctions on shipping companies are undermining safety at sea and pose dangers for trade as ship standards are impacted, the chief executive of sanctioned Russian shipping group Sovcomflot said.The European Union imposed sanctions on Russia's state-owned and top tanker company Sovcomflot (SCF) and its CEO Igor Tonkovidov, according to the measures published in the EU's Official Journal on Monday.Earlier this year, the U.S.

The European Union will add 27 vessels, including oil and liquefied natural gas tankers, to its list of entities under sanctions as part of its latest measures against Russia, two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.EU countries adopted the 14th package of sanctions against Russia earlier on Monday. These included a ban on trans-shipments of Russian LNG off EU ports that will take effect after 9-month transition period. The full details will be published later in the EU's Official Journal.The latest list…