Risky Business: New Zealand Insurer Maritime Mutual Under Investigation—UANI Repeatedly Urged P&I Club to Stop Providing Cover for Iranian Oil from 2020 to 2024

(New York, N.Y.)—UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace and Research Director Daniel Roth stated:

“UANI is deeply concerned by today’s investigative report from Reuters indicating that the New Zealand-based insurer, Maritime Mutual Insurance Association (Maritime Mutual), has provided insurance cover to vessels transporting Iranian oil despite the clear risk of sanctions-evading activity.

“Since July 2020, UANI has repeatedly pressed Maritime Mutual regarding its apparent provision of insurance to vessels implicated in U.S.-sanctioned oil shipments. UANI has sent six letters of inquiry, most recently in December 2024, warning the Club of the risks posed by insuring tankers implicated in Iran’s illicit oil trade. Maritime Mutual responded only once—in 2020—and has since remained silent despite mounting evidence of sanctions violations.

“Today’s Reuters investigation confirms Maritime Mutual insured vessels belonging to “shadow fleet,” including ships shown to have carried Iranian energy products after sanctions were imposed. Maritime Mutual has been linked to the movement of at least $18.2 billion of Iranian oil and $16.7 billion of Russian energy products via insured vessels. On October 16, 2025, New Zealand’s financial crimes authorities searched Maritime Mutual’s Auckland and Christchurch offices, reflecting serious regulatory concern.

“Responding to the press coverage, Maritime Mutual advised that it maintains a “robust compliance program”, which includes monitoring vessel movements, cargoes, and ownership, vetting insurance applicants, and excluding coverage for illegal or sanctioned trade in which “[i]nsurance applicants are fully vetted through industry-standard databases and sanctions lists, and the ownership and activities of prospective vessels are investigated.”

“While UANI welcomes any genuine commitment to compliance, Maritime Mutual’s refusal to clarify their activities UANI since 2020 undermines the credibility of its claims. If the Club truly possesses an effective sanctions-screening system, it must explain why its vessels have repeatedly appeared in open-source databases and satellite imagery connected to sanctioned Iranian and Russian oil movements.

“Given our longstanding outreach and the newly released findings, UANI calls on Maritime Mutual to:

1. Publish publicly the full list of vessels for which it has issued or terminated cover since 2018, including those involved in transporting Iranian or Russian oil or refined products.
2. Disclose its full sanctions-compliance program: due-diligence procedures, monitoring practices, and how it assesses risk of sanctions-evading cargoes.
3. Cease immediately offering insurance or reinsurance placement to any vessel flagged by UANI and independent maritime intelligence as part of the “shadow fleet” or involved in sanctioned oil flows.
4. Work with UANI and other industry-watchdog groups to establish independent verification of its sanctions compliance, including third-party audits.
5. Cooperate fully with New Zealand regulators and international enforcement agencies in any investigation into possible sanctions-evasion facilitated by Maritime Mutual.

“UANI remains committed to exposing and stopping the financial, insurance, and shipping enablers of sanctioned-oil trafficking. The revelations in today’s report strongly reinforce our 2020-2024 appeals to Maritime Mutual—and underscore the need for immediate remedial action.

“We will continue to monitor Maritime Mutual’s response and publish assessments of its compliance behaviour and risk profile. Until credible, transparent action is taken, we believe the insurer remains a significant reputational and regulatory risk.”

To read UANI’s latest December 2024 letter to Maritime Mutual, click here.

To read UANI’s letter of February 8, 2023, click here.