ICYMI: UANI’s Claire Jungman Discusses Ghost Armada And Sanctions Evasion On Lloyd’s List Webinar

(New York, N.Y.) — On Thursday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Chief of Staff Claire Jungman was a featured panelist in a webinar, “How To Navigate Shipping’s Evolving Sanctions Risk,” hosted by Lloyd’s List and moderated by editor Richard Meade. Jungman, who leads UANI’s Shipping Campaign and conducts real-time tracking of Iran-related vessels operating worldwide, explained that UANI has detected an increase in Ghost Armada activities as well as an evolution in the deceptive tactics that bad actors are using to evade sanctions. UANI estimates that 90 percent of vessels leaving the country are spoofing their Automatic Identification System (AIS) devices, presenting a significant risk to the shipping industry. Frequently, two AIS transponders are attached to one vessel, with the second only being turned on once the ship enters its destination. This AIS spoofing tactic and many others are described in UANI’s report Oceans of Deceit: Iran’s Deceptive Shipping Practices and Exploitation of the Maritime Industry.

UANI has cataloged evidence of at least 315 vessels suspected of being involved in the transfer of Iranian crude oil and/or petroleum products in violation of U.S. sanctions, and maintains a public database for the benefit of the maritime industry and policymakers charged with sanctions enforcement. At present, 43 percent of all vessels identified by UANI are flagged by the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP), while the overwhelming majority of Iranian oil is bound for China.

Panama and China have nominated candidates to serve as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO), responsible for the safety and security of shipping and combating illicit maritime activities.  

The webinar also featured as panelists Danske Bank Global Head of Sanctions and Head of Financial Crime Compliance Amalie Korning Wedege, Lloyd’s List Markets Editor and Sanctions Analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann, American P&I Club COO Daniel Tadros. 

Meade, who said UANI and Jungman had, “pretty much written the book on subterfuge activity and shipping,” also published an eBook this month titled “The Rise of the Dark Fleet” featuring analysis on the growth of ship-to-ship (STS) transfers between sanctioned tankers to non-sanctioned tankers, particularly in the Singapore Strait. The change in behavior “allows more exports of Iranian oil and is more efficient for Iran because they do not have to go all the way to China” which increased its imports of Iranian oil year-over-year 2021 and 2022.

To watch Lloyd’s List’s webinar “How To Navigate Shipping’s Evolving Sanctions Risk, please click here. 

To read Lloyd’s List’s eBook the Risk & Compliance: The Rise Of The Dark Fleet, please click here. 

To read UANI’s resource Stop the Hop II: The Ghost Armada Grows, please click here. 

To read UANI’s report Oceans of Deceit: Iran’s Deceptive Shipping Practices and Exploitation of the Maritime Industry, please click here.

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