The Ghost Armada

​Updated: March 31, 2025

In November 2020, UANI identified 70 foreign vessels suspected of involvement in the illicit transfer of Iranian crude oil and/or petroleum products. Over three years later, the list has grown to 521. This suspected ghost armada, distinct from but complementing Iran’s own NITC tanker fleet, has skirted U.S. sanctions and exploited regulatory loopholes to ship millions of barrels of Iranian oil.

One of the most frequently deployed tactics in evading oil sanctions is “flag hopping.” This involves the repeated switching of a ship’s “flag” – which permits legitimate global travel and docking rights – to different national registries. Often accompanied by the formation of new shell and front companies, ownership and name changes, and even alterations to ships’ physical markings, flag-hopping is a blight on legitimate maritime commerce.

Certain vessel owners are intentionally exploiting flag registries, many of which do not have the capabilities to track the history of vessels or even perform what ought to be rudimentary compliance scans.  In fact, some registries are increasingly reliant on UANI for assistance in identifying the suspicious and often illicit behavior of vessels absent their own tracking capabilities and resources.

For example, in a Guardian report from March 23, 2021, the Cook Islands flag registry acknowledged to the journalist, “we just do what they [UANI] tell us.”

In conveying our findings to the world’s flag registries, a majority have taken appropriate measures and de-flagged these vessels. Others are less responsive, taking months to ‘investigate’ while allowing the vessels to engage in further illicit activity under their flag’s registration.

The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP)

Of the 521 vessels listed below, 17% are currently flagged by the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP), one of the world’s biggest and most famous flag registries.

Responsible Flaggers

On the other hand, there are many responsible authorities, such as the St. Kitts and Nevis International Ship Registry (SkanReg), which have de-flagged all eight vessels identified by UANI. Other notable registries with a good track record include the Tanzania-Zanzibar International Register of Shipping, the Maritime Administration of Gabonese Republic, and the Tuvalu Ship Registry.

The Ghost Armada: The List

UANI has compiled a list of vessels suspected to have been involved in the transfer of Iranian crude oil and/or petroleum products, so that the entire community of flag registries may act in concert to “stop the hop.”

In its reply to UANI, the Tuvalu Ship Registry suggested: “It is our opinion that vessel registries should make public the information they have relating to vessels and owners that seek to support the Iranian / Syrian regime just as how TSR has done. This will save time and cut out the bureaucracy of signing agreements and surely result in a more effective way of stamping out “flag-hopping”.

UANI agrees, and we intend to update this list monthly. We encourage all flag states to routinely check this list to confirm whether vessels suspected of involvement in the illicit transfer of Iranian oil are seeking to register under their flags.

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