Shipping

China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp. (CPMIEC)

Industry
Aerospace, Construction, Defense, Shipping
Country
China
Sources

In January 2021, the State of New Jersey Department of the Treasury listed CPMIEC as a company engaged in prohibited activities in Iran pursuant to P.L. 2012, c. 25 ("Chapter 25"). 

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As of October 14, 2020, CPMIEC remained on the Tennesse Department of General Services list of persons it determines engage in investment activities in Iran, as described in 12-12-105.

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As of July 1, 2020, CPMIEC is listed as an entity “determined, based on credible information available to the public, to be engaged in prohibited activities in Iran pursuant to New Jersey P.L. 2012, c.25 (“Chapter 25”).  

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As of April 15, 2020, CPMIEC is included as an entity determined to be non-responsive bidders/offerers pursuant to The New York State Iran Divestment Act of 2012.  

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As of April 15, 2020, CPMIEC is included on the Tennessee list of persons it determines engage in investment activities in Iran, as described in § 12-12-105. 

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On June 30, 2019, New Jersey listed CPMIEC on its state list of entities determined, based on credible information, to be engaged in prohibited activities in Iran.

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In 2018 and 2019 Tennessee used the New York list of “Entities determined to be non-responsive bidders/offerers pursuant to the New York State Iran Divestment Act of 2012.” CPMIEC was included on this list in 2018 and 2019. Tennessee states "Inclusion on this list would make a person ineligible to contract with the state of Tennessee, if a person ceases its engagement in investment activities in Iran, it may be removed from the list."

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In 2018, the state of New Jersey, listed CPMIEC on its Iran scrutinized companies list rendering CPMIEC ineligible for investment and/or state contracting.

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"Chinese companies banned from doing business in the U.S. for allegedly selling missile technology to Iran continue to do a brisk trade with American companies, according to an analysis of shipping records.

A unit of state-owned China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp., for example, has made nearly 300 illegal shipments to U.S. firms since a ban was imposed on CPMIEC and its affiliates in mid-2006, according to an analysis of shipping records by the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, a nonprofit proliferation watchdog.

A Wall Street Journal review of the records and interviews with officials at some of the American companies indicate that the U.S. firms likely were unaware they were doing business with banned entities, and in many cases were tripped up by altered company names.

The CPMIEC shipments, worth millions of dollars, include everything from anchors and drilling equipment to automobile parts and toys. In many cases, CPMIEC acted as a shipping intermediary -- activity also banned under a 2006 presidential order.

The ability of CPMIEC and other foreign companies to continue doing business in the U.S. despite the sanctions comes as the Obama administration considers fresh economic sanctions against Iran. The illegal shipments suggest that U.S. sanctions have become so numerous and complex that they have become difficult to enforce...

In June 2006, the U.S. banned CPMIEC and three other Chinese companies from conducting business in the U.S., citing their alleged sales of missile technology to Iran in defiance of previous sanctions. Two months later, a shipment of oil-drainage tanks from Shanghai landed at the port of Tacoma, Wash., bound for a New York City firm, American Forge & Foundry Inc. The shipper: a unit of CPMIEC, according to a shipping record known as a bill of lading...

John Iliff, general manager of American Forge & Foundry, says the single shipment of oil-drainage tanks it received in 2006 from the CPMIEC unit set off no alarms. 'Trading in illegal goods certainly never crossed our minds,' he says.

The shipment came from China JMM Import & Export Shanghai Pudong Corp., which didn't appear on any sanctions list until Thursday. Records indicate the company shares an address and phone number with a CPMIEC unit that was previously banned: CPMIEC Shanghai Pudong Corp. The Treasury determined that the two companies are affiliated." (The Wall Street Journal, "Chinese Evade U.S. Sanctions on Iran," 1/5/10)

 

Leonhardt & Blumberg

Industry
Shipping
Country
Germany
Contact Information
Sources

US troops boarded a German-owned freighter in early October and found eight containers full of ammunition, allegedly headed to Syria from Iran. The shipment is in violation of a UN weapons embargo and has become a source of chagrin in Berlin... The incident is particularly awkward for Berlin as the Hansa India is registered to the Hamburg-based shipping company Leonhardt & Blumberg. Investigators suspect that the arms were part of an Iranian shipment bound for either the Syrian army or for Hezbollah, the militant Islamist group. US officials have pointed out that the delivery is in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747, which prohibits arms shipments either into or out of Iran. According to Leonhardt & Blumberg, the 243-meter-long (297-foot-long) ship has for years been under charter to the state-owned shipping company Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. Two US warships halted the Hansa India after receiving a tip-off from intelligence services. (Der Spiegel, "German Ship Transporting Arms for Iran," 10/12/09)

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Meanwhile, it has emerged that IRISL-chartered containership Hansa India also stopped and boarded by the US Navy in the Suez Canal last week, at which point American security personne found seven containers loaded with 7.62mm calibre bullet casings suitable for for Kalashnikov rifles, as well as an eighth container loaded with blanks that could be used for the manufacture of projectiles. The 1994-built vessel is German-flagged and is associated with Hamburg-based Leonhardt & Blumberg, although it has been chartered by IRISL for some years. Frank Leonhardt, chief executive of Leonhardt & Blumberg, was not immediately available for comment... The delivery is in apparent violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1747, which prohibits arms shipments either into or out of Iran. (Lloyd's List, "IRISL hit with UK nuclear sanctions," 10/12/09)

Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG)

Industry
Shipping
Value of USG Contracts
21
Value of USG Contract Source
http://usaspending.gov/explore?fromfiscal=yes&fiscal_year=2010&contractorid=75779&fiscal_year=&tab=By+Prime+Awardee&fromfiscal=yes&carryfilters=on&Submit=Go
Symbol
NYSE:OSG
States
FL
NY
PA
TX
Country
USA
Contact Information
Sources

According to its Annual Report filed with the SEC for fiscal year 2012: "Non-U.S. subsidiaries of OSG contributed VLCC tankers they owned or chartered-in to Tankers International, a commercial pool that charters out vessels which in turn call on ports throughout the world in compliance with applicable law. Tankers International is a UK entity operated by the Tankers International pool manager, a non-U.S. person, which is responsible for chartering out each vessel once it has been contributed to Tankers International. Accordingly, Tankers International and its manager make the decisions with respect to ports of call and the practical arrangements necessary in connection with the chosen ports of call. OSG learns where a vessel contributed by one of its non-U.S. subsidiaries has or will be traded after the voyage has been fixed. Certain of the non-U.S. OSG subsidiaries continue to provide technical management, crew and certain operational support for the vessels contributed by those subsidiaries and, in that connection, may interact with port authorities or other government officials and representatives in the jurisdictions through and in which these vessels transit.

In early 2012, Tankers International vessels made five port calls in Iran, in compliance with applicable law, including one port call made by a vessel owned by a non-U.S. subsidiary of OSG in January 2012. The Tankers International manager and the customers that chartered out the vessels were not Iranian. However, when such vessels called on Iranian ports, interaction with Government of Iran officials, such as port authorities, may have been required. In any case, even when these vessels, including the one owned by a non-U.S. subsidiary of OSG, called on an Iranian ports, neither OSG itself nor any of its U.S. person, affiliates or employees had any role or involvement with Tankers International transactions involving Iran.

As a participant in the pool, OSG receives a share of Tankers International’s net revenues from a voyage based on its contribution of vessels to Tankers International, regardless of whether the voyage was performed by a vessel contributed by one of its non-U.S. subsidiaries or by another pool participant. OSG’s share of the Tankers International pool’s net revenue (after deducting OSG’s share of administrative costs) for 2012 derived from all voyages of all Tankers International vessels involving a port call in Iran totaled approximately $1,318.

Tankers International decided to terminate all new business involving Iranian ports in February 2012 after the European Union adopted sanctions on such activity. No vessel owned or chartered in by OSG or any of its domestic or foreign subsidiaries has called on an Iranian port since January 2012, and until the U.S. and European Union sanctions regimes permit such calls, OSG will not allow its vessels to make such calls, whether through a pooling arrangement or otherwise."

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"Zurich Insurance Group AG (ZURN) is among companies being questioned by New York’s insurance regulator in a widening probe into compliance with an Iran sanctions law, according to a person familiar with the matter. The state Department of Financial Services is asking insurers to explain their policies and procedures to avoid violations of the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012, according to the person. The act took effect July 1. ‘The resulting sanctions could jeopardize the ability of any involved insurer to conduct business in the United States,’ the department said in a letter to the insurers obtained by Bloomberg News. ‘Recently, the Department learned that several companies have insured trades made with Iran.’ The regulator, led by Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky, contacted a group of insurers in June about compliance with the law. That group included Swiss Reinsurance Co. (SREN) and Lloyd’s of London. Besides Zurich, other companies contacted in the newest letter are American International Overseas Ltd., AXA Global Risks, and St. Paul Reinsurance Co. Ltd." (BloombergZurich Among Insurers Said to Be Probed in Expanded N.Y. Inquiry, 7/24/13)

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"OSG, based in New York, said Feb. 10 that the pool of 45 supertankers from seven owners in which its carriers trade will no longer go to Iran... Four OSG-owned ships, managed by Tankers International LLC, called at the country's biggest crude-export terminal in the past year, ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show...OSG's Overseas Rosalyn, which can carry about 2 million barrels, arrived at Kharg Island on Jan.27 and departed the next day, tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.  It left abour 16 feet deeper in the water, an indication it loaded cargo...OSG complies with all U.S and European laws and its headquarters in New York doesn't manage charters, OSG Chief Executive Officer Morten Arntzen said in an email Jan. 30."  (Bloomberg, "Iran Sanctions Tighten as OSG to Frontline Halt Crude Cargo," 2/13/12 )

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OSG is "the second largest publicly traded oil tanker company in the world, measured by number of vessels." (Company website. "Corporate Profile")

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"According to marine transport site, Equasis, ships owned by US shipping company, Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. (NYSE: OSG), partly owned [by] Oudi Recanati and Ariel Recanati, have docked in Iran. An examination of Equasis's website found that OSG oil tanker Overseas Tanabe docked at Khark in Iran in September 2009. The ship flies under the Marshall Islands flag." (Globes. "Recanti's OSG ships also docked in Iran," 6/1/11)

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Listed by U.S. Government as doing business in Iran. (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, List of Companies Doing Business With State Sponsors Of Terror, Removed from the internet in July of 2007)

Response

No response at this time.

Tokio Marine

Industry
Financial Services, Shipping
Symbol
TYO: 8766
States
CA
HI
NY
Country
Japan
Sources

"Officials from Japan Tokio Marine Insurance Company discussed issues of mutual interests with Deputy Head of Iran's Central Insurance Company for Reinsurance Mina Sediq Nouhi. In the meeting here on Saturday, Governor of Tokio Marine Insurance Company Eva Koma expressed pleasure for being in Tehran and explained history of company activities in Japan and the Middle East and said that the main activity of the company is in the field of marine insurance. He said that Tokio Marine accompany with two other insurance companies in Japan have 90 percent of Japan insurance market share." (IRNA, "First Japanese insurance interaction with Iran," 10/17/15)

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Listed by U.S. Government as doing business in Iran [formerly known as Millea Holdings Inc.]. (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, "List of Companies Doing Business With State Sponsors Of Terror," Removed from the Internet in July 2007)

Response

No response at this time.

NYK Line

Industry
Shipping
Symbol
TYO: 9101
States
IL
Country
Japan
Sources

Company website lists company offices in Bandar Abbas and Tehran, Iran. (NYK)

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Listed by the Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization as doing business with the Iranian Darya Saree and Golf Agencei.  (Ports & Maritime Organization: Companies Affairs Department: Liners)

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"Nippon Yusen K.K, the second-largest owner of VLCCs, won't carry Iranian oil if it means ships aren't insured, Yuji Isoda, an investor relations manager for the Tokyo company, said Feb. 9. The company doesn't yet know how its insurers will handle the EU sanctions, he said by phone." (Bloomberg, "Iran Sanctions Tighten as OSG to Frontline Halt Crude Cargo," 2/13/2012)

Response

No response at this time.