Tightening sanctions aimed at pressuring Tehran to abandon its nuclear program threaten to drive Iran's flagship cargo shipping line out of Europe, something past efforts have failed to accomplish, a Reuters investigation shows, Reuters reports.
Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which carries an estimated one third of the country's dry bulk and container seaborne trade, has faced European Union sanctions for its alleged role in smuggling banned weapons, including measures implemented on July 26, 2010.
Yet since then, 23 ships have visited 12 ports in the EU a total of 149 times, according to analysis including vessel movements and port calls for a Reuters special report into Iranian shipping sanctions published on Wednesday.
These include 96 visits to Malta, 14 to Antwerp, and 10 to Rotterdam. Two EU countries also still provide what critics call "flags of convenience" to the majority of the firm's fleet.
Malta flags 48 vessels and Cyprus 12, out of a total of 144 vessels identified by the United States and the EU as IRISL vessels.
In interviews with Reuters, officials from both Malta and Cyprus indicated they will soon begin to de-register all of Iran's sanctioned fleet and review all contracts for shipping services, effectively ousting them from Europe.
Under the EU sanctions, all IRISL assets were ordered frozen and all commercial transactions banned, but an exemption does allow some existing contracts to be honored.
Malta's foreign minister Tonio Borg confirmed in an interview that his country was "moving in the direction" of deflagging all vessels. But he insisted other countries should also act.
"We believe that all services to IRISL should be prohibited," Borg told Reuters. "We are ready to make that sacrifice, provided that all countries also make the sacrifice."
In Cyprus, officials suggested they would follow suit in de-registering the fleet. A Cypriot official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Department of Merchant Shipping had already allowed international safety certificates to expire on January 15, making it hard for any Cypriot-registered ships to continue operations.
The Reuters investigation found that IRISL still continues to play a complex cat-and-mouse game by frequently shifting the official registered owners, flags, and even the names of vessels in an attempt to conceal their connection to the firm.
John Dalby, a former oil tanker captain and chief executive of Marine Risk Management, a global consultancy and maritime security company, said the number of changes "says volumes about the smoke and mirrors going on at IRISL."
"They are trying to mask ownership and mask tracking of the specific whereabouts of various ships. By aiming to turn a vessel into a ghost ship, they hope to conceal its ultimate ownership and, secondarily, its movements," Dalby said.
In the 48 months before U.S. sanctions began in September 2008, IRISL made at least 345 changes in its fleet, including ship names, the flags they operated under, operators, managers and registered owners.
In the 40 months since those sanctions, there have been at least 878 changes.
Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which carries an estimated one third of the country's dry bulk and container seaborne trade, has faced European Union sanctions for its alleged role in smuggling banned weapons, including measures implemented on July 26, 2010.
Yet since then, 23 ships have visited 12 ports in the EU a total of 149 times, according to analysis including vessel movements and port calls for a Reuters special report into Iranian shipping sanctions published on Wednesday.
These include 96 visits to Malta, 14 to Antwerp, and 10 to Rotterdam. Two EU countries also still provide what critics call "flags of convenience" to the majority of the firm's fleet.
Malta flags 48 vessels and Cyprus 12, out of a total of 144 vessels identified by the United States and the EU as IRISL vessels.
In interviews with Reuters, officials from both Malta and Cyprus indicated they will soon begin to de-register all of Iran's sanctioned fleet and review all contracts for shipping services, effectively ousting them from Europe.
Under the EU sanctions, all IRISL assets were ordered frozen and all commercial transactions banned, but an exemption does allow some existing contracts to be honored.
Malta's foreign minister Tonio Borg confirmed in an interview that his country was "moving in the direction" of deflagging all vessels. But he insisted other countries should also act.
"We believe that all services to IRISL should be prohibited," Borg told Reuters. "We are ready to make that sacrifice, provided that all countries also make the sacrifice."
In Cyprus, officials suggested they would follow suit in de-registering the fleet. A Cypriot official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Department of Merchant Shipping had already allowed international safety certificates to expire on January 15, making it hard for any Cypriot-registered ships to continue operations.
The Reuters investigation found that IRISL still continues to play a complex cat-and-mouse game by frequently shifting the official registered owners, flags, and even the names of vessels in an attempt to conceal their connection to the firm.
John Dalby, a former oil tanker captain and chief executive of Marine Risk Management, a global consultancy and maritime security company, said the number of changes "says volumes about the smoke and mirrors going on at IRISL."
"They are trying to mask ownership and mask tracking of the specific whereabouts of various ships. By aiming to turn a vessel into a ghost ship, they hope to conceal its ultimate ownership and, secondarily, its movements," Dalby said.
In the 48 months before U.S. sanctions began in September 2008, IRISL made at least 345 changes in its fleet, including ship names, the flags they operated under, operators, managers and registered owners.
In the 40 months since those sanctions, there have been at least 878 changes.