SOME 20 containerships operated by SeaLead have been sanctioned by the United States, in line with restrictions placed on dozens of owners, operators, managers and associates deemed to have Iranian involvement.
The company, recently rated as the fastest growing shipping line at the India Maritime Awards and is listed as the world’s Number 13 container line by ASX/Alphaliner, charters all but two of its 53 vessels and has none on order.
The US Office of Foreign Asset Control on Wednesday [30 July] added 62 vessels to the sanctions list for shipping Iranian oil, gas, missiles, drone components and dual-use goods, along with 12 individuals and over 70 ship management and front companies worldwide.
For the first time the list includes containerships, having been most focused on tankers identified as part of the so-called ‘dark fleet’. There are now 170 ships in total designated by the Trump administration as linked to Iran’s oil and shipping networks or Iran-backed Houthis, according to US-based Windward, a maritime AI company.
One of the OFAC sanctioned companies is Draco Buren Shipping Pte Ltd of Singapore, which Equasis records with a fleet of 23 vessels under ISM management, of which 20 are listed as commercially operated by SeaLead Shipping.
Several of these ships have been seen on the company’s Australian services, although the only containership currently deployed here, on the CA2 service from China, is the Chinese-owned Zhong Gu Nan Chang, now on the coast.
In a statement on its corporate website SeaLead said it had been made aware that multiple vessels, chartered by the company for commercial purposes, had been added to the OFAC sanctions list.
“All SeaLead vessels and their ownership structure continue to be screened in line with the company’s robust due diligence processes which include a stringent sanction screening and Know Your Supplier (KYS) process.
“SeaLead confirms the termination of all charterparties and contracts related to the sanctioned vessels and entities. The company maintains full compliance with applicable sanctions laws and regulatory requirements,” it said.
SeaLead’s Australian agency is Queensland-based Nautical Shipping while owners’ representative Anthony Orgill is in Melbourne. Mr Orgill referred questions to Singapore headquarters.