In light of the US Sanctions to COSCO for alleged involvement in moving crude oil from Iran, David Peyman, deputy assistant secretary of state for counter threat finance and sanctions, commented that no company is too big to avoid sanctions if they conduct illegal operations.
Specifically, the sanctions against COSCO were on the spotlight for a long time due to the fact that they were on of the biggest sanctions actions taken by the U.S. government since its crackdown on Iranian oil exports, Reuters comments.
Additionally, David Payman stated that if the companies’ behaviours don’t change, then the US will adopt a more aggressive behaviour, strictly “enforcing US sanctions across the board as a means to change behavior of bad actors”.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
He added that it is expensive to invest in more due diligence and take proactive measures not to get caught during sanction breaches, adding that insurance companies and banks should monitor the history of ships they have covered through the years, see potential gaps in vessels’ AIS, and understand whether the vessels had conducted illicit activity, keeping in mind that COSCO tankers turned their AIS off.
In October, Washington enable companies to ease transactions with the designated COSCO subsidiaries until the 20th of December this year.
Peyman quoted to Reuters that the US is under discussions with COSCO, adding that there is no company too big not to be sanctioned and no company that is safe from sanctions.