Under pressure from the United States, Panamanian ships face mass cancellation
After a long period of pressure from the United States and groups such as the United Nations Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), Panama's maritime authority is about to launch a massive clean-up of its registered ships, removing sanctioned tankers.
Last year, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino signed an executive order authorizing the Panama Ship Registry to immediately cancel all ship registrations associated with the "shadow fleet." The decree marks an immediate move by Panama to deregister ships under US or EU sanctions that fly the Panamanian flag.
According to Bloomberg News, Panama has provided institutional guarantees for cleaning up the ship's registration by revising administrative procedures and regulations. At least 70 tankers have been delisted so far, and Panamanian authorities have pledged to step up efforts to crack down on sanctioned vessels and other vessels that violate the rules. According to reports, the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" strategy has had a real impact on tanker traffic: 11 tankers carrying 17 million barrels of crude oil are grounded or sailing at low speeds in the Malaysia-Singapore waters, and more than 20 tankers are idled near the Iranian Halq Island terminal.
As of late February, more than two-thirds of the tankers involved in transporting Iranian crude in 2024 were on the sanctions list, the data showed. But analysts at TankerTracker.com noted that as of early March, the United States had blacklisted only 234 of 522 tankers, or 45 percent, involved in Iranian oil trade. UANI has long accused Panama of weak oversight, with Panamanian nationals accounting for 18 percent (96) of the 510 ships it has tracked involved in the Iranian oil trade. The list has ballooned from 70 ships since it was established in November 2020 to its current size, with nine Panamanian tankers already sanctioned.
Panamanian officials especially emphasized that after the new government took office in recent years, it has continued to vigorously rectify the ship registration system.
Last year, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino signed an executive order authorizing the Panama Ship Registry to immediately cancel all ship registrations associated with the "shadow fleet." The decree marks an immediate move by Panama to deregister ships under US or EU sanctions that fly the Panamanian flag.
According to Bloomberg News, Panama has provided institutional guarantees for cleaning up the ship's registration by revising administrative procedures and regulations. At least 70 tankers have been delisted so far, and Panamanian authorities have pledged to step up efforts to crack down on sanctioned vessels and other vessels that violate the rules. According to reports, the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" strategy has had a real impact on tanker traffic: 11 tankers carrying 17 million barrels of crude oil are grounded or sailing at low speeds in the Malaysia-Singapore waters, and more than 20 tankers are idled near the Iranian Halq Island terminal.
As of late February, more than two-thirds of the tankers involved in transporting Iranian crude in 2024 were on the sanctions list, the data showed. But analysts at TankerTracker.com noted that as of early March, the United States had blacklisted only 234 of 522 tankers, or 45 percent, involved in Iranian oil trade. UANI has long accused Panama of weak oversight, with Panamanian nationals accounting for 18 percent (96) of the 510 ships it has tracked involved in the Iranian oil trade. The list has ballooned from 70 ships since it was established in November 2020 to its current size, with nine Panamanian tankers already sanctioned.
Panamanian officials especially emphasized that after the new government took office in recent years, it has continued to vigorously rectify the ship registration system.
