Tag: Iran

Classification cover vital for ships to stay operational Germany's Germanischer Lloyd (GL) has stopped verifying safety and environmental standards for Iran's biggest shipping companies, a letter from the company showed, the last big European classification society to pull back as sanctions heat up.Without verification from such bodies, ships are unable to call at international ports.The move follows similar decisions in recent weeks by British classification society Lloyd's Register, France's Bureau Veritas and Norway's Det Norske Veritas to halt operations in Iran as Western powers pile pressure on the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear programme, putting companies that still trade with Iran in the firing line.In a letter sent to U.S. pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) dated June 15 and seen by Reuters, GL said it had stopped offering services to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC)."It is of the utmost importance that we maintain our good reputation," GL said in the letter. "Therefore, we have pursued the decision to cease rendering services to the Iranian companies mentioned."A GL spokeswoman said on Monday it was not making a statement on the issue.Classification societies are hired by ship owners to ...

$7.6 billion should there be an accident on an Iranian oil tanker coming to Japan Last week, the Japanese government's cabinet ministers both approved and submitted a bill to the Diet that allows insurance coverage to be made on oil imports from Iran. This is in direct opposition to the ban on Iranian oil insurance from the European Union that will take effect on July 1st. If passed by parliament, the bill would permit the government to make payments as high as $7.6 billion should there be an accident on an Iranian oil tanker coming to Japan.While the European Union is showing no signs of leniency, Japan has requested to be exempted from the ban on insurance of Iranian oil exports. The Japanese government has also made it clear that it has no intentions to stop importing oil from the Middle Eastern nation. The European Union's ban is just one of many attempts by Western nations to put sanctions on Iran with the hopes of convincing Tehran to abandon its nuclear development program via depleting its revenue sources. While not stopping altogether, Japan has reduced the amount of its oil imports from Iran, despite the sharply increasing demand after halting ...

Senior Iranian official says A senior Iranian official says the country's naval forces are actively conducting anti-piracy patrols in the international waters and providing escort to Iranian as well as foreign cargo vessels.Director General of Maritime Affairs at Iran's Ports and Shipping Organization Ali Estiri said on Saturday that Iran will maintain its "powerful presence" in the high seas as long as piracy exists.Estiri further noted that the issue of piracy has been on the rise in the recent years, especially off the coast of Somalia and in the Indian Ocean. The phenomenon has various political and security aspects, and consensus and collective efforts by the international community are essential in an all-out fight against piracy, he said.On May 24, Iranian naval forces rescued a US commercial ship which came under attack by several pirate boats near the Sea of Oman.Iran's Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Ali Akbar Marzban said on May 18 that Iran's Navy has conducted at least 85 anti-piracy missions in international waters over the past three years. He highlighted that more than 2,000 cargo vessels have also received Iranian naval escorts through the pirate-infested waters during the mentioned period.Iran's Navy has been multiplying ...

UANI has requested a response from GL by June 18, 2012 United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) on Thursday called on the German shipping service Germanischer Lloyd (GL) to stop certifying Iranian shipping vessels, specifically those of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC).GL's Iran business violates EU sanctions that ban both transactions with IRISL and the provision of ancillary services, including certification services that facilitate Iran's global oil trade. According to data gathered by UANI, GL currently provides certification to several IRISL vessels, as well as to at least eight vessels of the regime's primary oil shipper, NITC.In a June 12 letter to GL Chairman of the Executive Board Erik van der Noordaa, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, explained how GL's activities are in clear violation of EU sanctions imposed against IRISL and Iran's oil trade, and also could run afoul of U.S. law, given GL's extensive contract work with the U.S. governmentGL helps Iran circumvent multilateral sanctions that have been imposed to prevent Iran from further developing its illegal nuclear weapons program. GL's business also violates European Union sanctions that ban transactions with IRISL and the provision of ancillary services, including ...

P&I clubs will be unable to insure vessels carrying Iranian crude from July 1 In less than two weeks, Iran's biggest oil buyers will lose access to the London-based insurance market that protects 95 percent of the world's tanker shipments against oil spills or catastrophic collisions.Barring an unexpected last-minute deal to relax European Union sanctions, Europe's Protection and Indemnity (P&I) clubs will be unable to insure vessels carrying Iranian crude from July 1, an unforeseen but ultimately critical side effect of EU sanctions to punish Iran for its nuclear program.In an extreme scenario, exports from OPEC's second-largest supplier -- already curtailed by separate U.S. sanctions and an EU import ban -- could grind to a halt next month as overseas oil companies cannot afford to take the risk of multibillion-dollar liabilities arising from an uninsured incident.Such an outcome seems unlikely. In Japan, which now buys about a fifth of Iran's exports, legislators are expected to approve unprecedented government guarantees to insure shipments later this month.But no other country has announced similar arrangements, and buyers in South Korea and India say they will have to stop loading any new cargoes from July without a solution.Despite the risks, however, oil markets appear ...

Iran's biggest tanker operator, NITC Iran's biggest tanker operator, NITC, has $1 billion in ship insurance cover to keep its fleet on the water and serve clients in Asia despite Western sanctions on the Islamic Republic's oil trade, a senior NITC official said on Tuesday.Washington and Brussels have put financial measures in place, including moves to prevent Tehran from gaining vital insurance cover, to make it tougher for Iran to pay for and ship oil.The NITC official, who declined to be named, said his company's Asian business was not affected. "We can trade with no problems at all everywhere in Asia."He declined to give figures for shipments, however, and his comments contrasted with evidence from Asian buyers that they were significantly scaling back purchases from Iran. These included a senior Chinese oil executive who said this week that refiner Sinopec will cut imports by up to a fifth this year.Iran-based shipping sources said in April that Iran had been forced to deploy more than half of its national tanker fleet to store oil at anchorage due to the Western measures.The National Iranian Tanker Company - now known as NITC - lost its ship insurance cover from European providers last year ...

Certification activities were in violation of EU sanctions French shipping service, Bureau Veritas (BV) has "decided to disengage completely from all marine activities related to Iran." This follows United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) informing Bureau Veritas last week that its certification activities were in violation of EU sanctions. UANI has launched its shipping certification campaign in early May.Bureau Veritas has assured UANI that the pledge specifically includes "all vessels of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and of its subsidiaries, irrespective of their flags," as well as all and the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) vessels. While applauding the cerification agency for ending its certification of Iranian vessels, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D.Wallace said, "The international community must focus specifically on the shipping industry, to deny the Iranian regime access to global trade and seaborne crude oil exports. Aligned nations should prohibit all international cargo shippers that service Iranian ports from shipping to the US, EU and elsewhere. By cutting off Iran's shipping access, the world can further isolate the regime and hamper its nuclear program and support for terrorists ." UANI has highlighted the shipping industry as an area where the international community can further pressure Iran. ...

Philippine ship, named Rosita, with 23 crews attacked by pirates Iranian naval forces released a Philippine freighter hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Oman.The Philippine ship, named Rosita, with 23 crews was attacked by pirates while heading from India toward Qatar, but the Iranian naval forces managed to free the ship, the IRNA News Agency reported.Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari has said that Navy will dispatch its 20th flotilla of warships to the international waters."Iran's Navy will continue dispatching fleet of vessels in waters to protect naval routes and provide security for Iranian merchant vessels and tankers," he stated, the Fars News Agency reported.Sayyari stated that the Iran's naval fleet will also protect vessels belonging to other countries.In the latest development, an attempt by pirates to hijack a Panamanian ship was foiled due to the timely action of the Iranian fleet of warships present in the regionSource: Trend

This practice has been going on for more than a month In a bid to circumvent crippling international sanctions, Iran has been routinely switching off satellite tracking systems on its sea-bound oil tankers, The Washington Post reported.Citing unnamed U.S. officials, the newspaper said the practice has been going on for more than a month.U.S. officials and industry analysts describe it as a cat-and-mouse game with Western governments seeking to enforce sanctions on Iranian exports, the report said.The unusual tactic was begun in early April and affects a quarter of Iran's tanker fleet, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), which has been monitoring the practice, the paper noted.The move, a violation of maritime law, is only modestly effective in hiding tankers as they ply the oceans in search of open ports and willing buyers, The Post said.But it underscores Iran's precarious position as it faces ever-tighter Western restrictions against its oil industry, the paper noted.Iran relies on oil exports for around two-thirds of its foreign currency earnings. The Islamic republic is the second biggest exporter in OPEC, after Saudi Arabia. Last year, it exported some 2.6 million barrels per day of the 3.5 million bpd it pumped out of its ...

30 million tons of goods during past months An Iranian official says Iran's commercial fleet transported about 30 million tons of goods during the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 19).Mohammad Sadeqifar, an official with Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO), told Mehr news agency on Monday that the figure shows a 4.4-percent increase in maritime trade compared with the previous year.He said that Iran stood at the 17th place in the global ranking of fleets, provided by the International Maritime Organization.The Islamic Republic also has the biggest commercial fleet in the Middle East, with some 145 vessels, Sadeqifar said, adding that 16 more ships are set to join Iranian freighters.The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and its subsidiaries operate most of the cargo vessels. Source: Press TV