As Reuters reports, Panama’s Maritime Authority that after Grace 1 was seized by British Royal Marines in Gibraltar, they de-listed it from Panama’s international boat registry as of May 29.
Specifically, the Panamanian Authority highlighted that Grace 1 was de-listed after receiving an alert indicating that the ship had participated in or was linked to terrorism financing.
According to Reuters, the British Royal captured the vessel on June 27, after being accused of bringing oil to Syria, thus breaching EU sanctions.
Although the tanker is under the Panamanian flag, Iran claimed ownership and then objected to the seizure of its ship.
Iran stated that the seizure of the vessel is an illegal ‘economic war’ against the country.
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During an OPEC and OPEC+ meeting in Vienna, it was discussed that worsening tensions between US and Iran adds potential for oil price volatility that could be tricky for OPEC members to manage.
In addition, the Iranian production is expected to fall by 1 million b/d year-on-year, due to the fact that US oil sanctions cut into its oil exports, especially after waivers for consuming nations to import limited Iranian oil were ended in early May 2019.
