Mumbai’s Marshal Ship Management sanctioned by US for alleged involvement in Iranian oil trade | Representational Image
Mumbai: The Trump administration has put sanctions on the Mumbai -based Marshal Ship Management Pvt Ltd for allegedly facilitating an international network of Iranian oil shipment to China. The sanctions blacklisted shipowners, managers and crude oil carriers for their role in the “shadow” fleet tankers involved in trafficking Iran oil.
The 20-year-old, Comoros-flagged Siri VLCC and its master, along with the 21-year-old, Panama-flagged CH Billion aframax and the 22-year-old, Hong Kong-flagged Star Forest VLCC were all sanctioned along with the Indian crew management company Marshal Ship Management.
The US Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has alleged Marshal Ship Management played a key role in helping Iran by supplying crew members to ships that transported Iranian oil.
The company offers shipping and crew services and manages over 100 ships worldwide, employing more than 3,000 crew members reportedly helped a sanctioned Iranian company, Sepehr Energy, falsify shipping documents to hide the origin of the sanctioned oil presented to port authorities to avoid detection. The compny did not respond to an email from the FPJ.
Earlier in May 2023 another Mumbai- based Gatik Shipping was sanctioned by the US treasury for operating a global “ghost fleet” of opaquely owned vessels transporting Russian oil to India for refining and further exporting to Europe.
The US treasury sanctioned entities and individuals in multiple jurisdictions, including the PRC, India, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and several vessels shipping Iranian crude oil.
According to the US treasury, Marshal Ship Management Private Limited and its director Ryan Xavier Aranha allegedly falsified maritime documents to evade sanctions on trading of Iranian oil shipped on behalf of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff (AFGS) funding multiple regional terrorist groups including Hamas, the Houthis, and Hizballah.
The AFGS utilizes networks of foreign-based front companies and brokers to enable these oil sales and shipments. The crew provided to vessels SIRI, ELSA, HEBE and BOREAS were linked to Sepehr Energy, a front company accused of facilitating oil shipments that benefit Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff.
The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Iran in a statement Thursday of using its oil revenues to fund the development of a nuclear program, produce ballistic missiles, deadly drones and support terrorist groups in the Middle East.
“The United States is committed to aggressively targeting any attempt by Iran to secure funding for these malign activities,” Bessent.
The Andheri Marol Naka headquartered Marshal Ship Management founded in 2019 recruits and trains seafarers and provides administrative support with offices in Mumbai, Chennai, Dubai and Manila, Philippines. The staff at Times Square, Marol Naka did not comment on the sanctions when FPJ paid a visit on the fifth floor recruitment office of the shipping company.
According to analysis from TankerTrackers.com, of the 503 active tankers that continue to transport Iranian crude oil and refined products, 283 vessels have still not been blacklisted by OFAC.
