Sanctions News

Two OFAC-sanctioned VLCCs remain stranded outside Bangladeshi waters with no prospects of a final resting place, reports cash buyer GMS, and this is now seeing cash buyers and ship recyclers being vigilant in their due diligence prior to negotiating on units.There are reportedly still a few more units in cash buyer hands that are waiting to be introduced for a recycling resale. However, given the fate that the behemoth duo has run into outside Bangladesh, it remains to be seen how these pending and even future dealings with candidates from sanctioned source(s) will eventually transpire…

The Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) has officially deregistered 107 Panamanian-flagged vessels listed under international sanctions, with an additional 18 currently undergoing the deregistration process.The deregistered vessels had been identified for compliance concerns or were listed on sanctions list issued by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the EU and the UK.To prevent high-risk vessels from entering the Panamanian Registry, the pre-registration analysis process…

Russia's leading tanker group Sovcomflot's saw transportation volumes drop around 16% to 63 million metric tons last year compared to 2023, Russian news agency Interfax reported on Friday, citing the group's CEO Igor Tonkovidov as saying.The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on state-controlled Sovcomflot and its fleet in 2024 in an effort to reduce Russia's revenue from oil sales that it can use to finance its war in Ukraine. The company's net profit dropped by 55% to $424 million last year.Sovcomflot hopes that the transportation volume of oil…

The United States reached deals on Tuesday with Ukraine and Russia on a truce in the Black Sea and a pause in attacks on energy facilities, with Washington also pledging to push for the lifting of some financial sanctions against Moscow.The separate agreements are the first formal commitments by the warring sides since the inauguration of Donald Trump, who is pushing for an end to the war and a rapid rapprochement with Moscow that has alarmed Kyiv and European countries.The U.S.

Two tankers hit by U.S. sanctions are due to offload Russian Arctic Oil in Syria for the first time, days after Moscow made its first known delivery of diesel there in more than a decade, according to LSEG data, a government source and local TV.One of the tankers, Aquatica, with some 100,000 tons of Russian oil onboard, is set to offload in Baniyas port soon, according to a government source and pro-government Syria TV.The vessel arrived on Thursday, but has yet to offload, according to the TV report and the government source.The second tanker…

Iranian oil shipments into China are set to fall in the near-term after new U.S. sanctions on a refiner and tankers, driving up shipping costs, but traders said they expect buyers to find workarounds to keep at least some volumes flowing.Washington on Thursday imposed new sanctions on entities including Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical, a "teapot," or independent refinery in east China's Shandong province, and vessels that supplied oil to such plants in China, the top buyers of…

The U.S. on Thursday issued new Iran-related sanctions, targeting entities including for the first time a Chinese "teapot", or independent refinery, and vessels that supplied crude oil to such processing plants.It was Washington's fourth round of sanctions on Iran's oil sales since President Donald Trump said in February he was re-imposing a "maximum pressure" campaign including efforts to drive down the country's exports to zero. Trump aims to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear…

A ship carrying Russian crude transferred from three smaller tankers that are under U.S. sanctions unloaded last week at a Chinese port, shiptracking data shows, ending an unusual month-long voyage highlighting the efforts of producers and traders to keep Moscow's oil flowing despite tightened curbs.The Panama-flagged Daban, one of dozens of non-sanctioned vessels drawn to the Russian oil trade by fat margins following the January 10 U.S. sanctions, was received at a berth run by the privately-controlled Qingdao Haiye Group at the port of Qingdao…

A second tanker under U.S. sanctions is moored near the Syrian port of Banias and may deliver a diesel cargo from Russia, data shows, as Moscow and Damascus strengthen ties.Moscow backed former Syrian autocrat Bashar al-Assad during more than a decade of civil war in Syria, but wants to improve relations with the new interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, as Russia wants to retain the use of its two military bases in the country.According to LSEG data, the Barbados-flagged Proxima, with around 30…

The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad and some Hong Kong-flagged vessels that are part of a shadow fleet that helps disguise Iranian oil shipments, the Treasury Department said.President Donald Trumpre-imposed a "maximum pressure" policy on Iran in February that includes efforts to drive its oil exports to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and funding militant groups.Paknejad "oversees the export of tens…

Russia shipped a diesel cargo to Syria onboard a tanker under U.S. sanctions, the first known such direct supply to the Middle Eastern country in more than a decade, LSEG data showed.The final destination of the cargo is unclear. Russia has two main military installations in Syria: an air base in Hmeimim and a naval base in Tartous, integral to Russia's military reach in the Middle East and Africa.Russia's control over the bases is under threat following the sudden fall of Bashar al-Assad last year.

On February 21, 2025, the Office of the US Trade Representative (UST) released a notice of a proposal to impose wide-ranging fees on shipping companies and vessels with a Chinese nexus. The USTR has yet to release regulatory or administrative language that implements the proposals, and there is no guarantee this will actually happen. Interested parties should consider submitting comments as well as reviewing their charterparty and other relevant agreementsSUMMARY OF USTR PROPOSALSThe USTR notice does not set forth a single unified scheme of fees…

The EU has just adopted its 16th sanctions package against Russia. The package targets systemically important sectors of the Russian economy such as energy, trade, transport, infrastructure and financial services.To curb the risk of our sanctions being bypassed, certain provisions of the 16th package are now also mirrored in the Belarus sanctions regime. The EU has in addition updated and strengthened its sanctions regimes concerning Crimea and Sevastopol, and the non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk…

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has issued its annual Flag State Performance Table for 2024/25, voicing concerns about four newcomers.The Table provides an analysis of the extent to which flag State administrations adhere to their responsibilities to follow global standards and regulations governing safety, environmental protection and the employment conditions of seafarers – as adopted by the IMO and ILO.The latest ICS Table confirms that the vast majority of the global shipping industry is registered with flag States that strictly enforce global regulations…

“When a country that exports large quantities imposes tariffs, it risks working against its own interests,” says Stamatis Tsantanis, Chairman & CEO of Greek shipping companies Seanergy Maritime and Maritime United.“Other nations adjust by sourcing commodities elsewhere. For example, the first time President Trump imposed tariffs on various goods, China responded by rerouting its imports of maize, corn, and grains to countries like Brazil and other parts of Latin America,” he says.“From a trade perspective, this pattern remains consistent.

Oil prices slipped on Monday after U.S. President Trump called on OPEC to reduce prices following the announcement of wide-ranging measures to boost U.S. oil and gas output in his first week in office.Brent crude futures LCOc1 dropped 53 cents, or 0.68%, to $77.97 a barrel by 0430 GMT after settling up 21 cents on Friday.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was at $74.16 a barrel, down 50 cents, or 0.67%.Trump on Friday reiterated his call for the Organization of the Petroleum…

Two Iranian cargo vessels carrying an ingredient for missile propellant will sail from China to Iran in the next few weeks, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing intelligence from security officials in two Western countries.The reported transactions could make the Chinese entities involved subject to U.S. sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's weapons programs, as the two Iranian vessels are already under U.S. sanctions.The FT said the Iranian-flagged ships, the Golbon and the Jairan…

A tanker subject to the new U.S. sanctions is discharging Russian oil at a port operated by Shandong Port Group in east China, shipping data on LSEG Eikon showed on Thursday.The tanker is the first since last week's sanctions announcement to discharge in Shandong province where many of China's independent refineries that have been big importers of Russian crude are based.It will be monitored closely by those in the industry anxious to know how strictly the measures will be implemented.The sanctions include a grace period exempting cargoes loaded before Jan.

Chinese and Indian refiners will source more oil from the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, boosting prices and freight costs, as new U.S. sanctions on Russian producers and ships curb supplies to Moscow's top customers, traders and analysts said.The U.S. Treasury on Friday imposed sanctions on Russian oil producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, as well as 183 vessels that have shipped Russian oil, targeting the revenues Moscow has used to fund its war with Ukraine.Many…

China's foreign ministry said on Wednesday it was not aware of Shandong Port Group's decision to ban U.S.-sanctioned vessels from its network of east coast harbours.The group oversees several major terminals in the province of Shandong, which is the main entry point for Iranian, Russian and Venezuelan oil imported into China. Last year, those embargoed flows were almost a fifth of total oil imports.If the ban is enforced, traders say it will drive up shipping costs for independent refiners in Shandong…

The U.S. Department of Defense released on the Federal Register on January 7, 2025 a "Notice of Chinese military companies operating in the United States." A trio of prominent maritime companies Cosco Shipping Holdings Co.; China State Shipbuilding Corp. and China Shipbuilding Trading Co. made the list, as "the Deputy Secretary of Defense has determined that the entities listed ... qualify as “Chinese military companies” in accordance with the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National…

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…