Panama’s shipping registry has denied failing to act on evidence that tankers operating under its flag had shipped Iranian crude oil in contravention of US sanctions.
The registry, the world’s largest with 16% of the global fleet, said that it had ejected 136 ships in the last four years because of direct links to the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC).
NIOC has strong links with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is coordinating the country’s sanctions evasion campaign, according to the US Treasury.
