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Blacklisted Iranian company’s vessel in mysterious escape
View(s):A vessel that slipped out of Sri Lankan custody last week belonged to an Iranian shipping company blacklisted by the United States for its role in supporting Iran’s ballistic missiles programme, the Sunday Times has found.
The company is also blacklisted by the European Union — Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1245/2011 —as an entity involved in “nuclear or ballistic missiles activities”.
M.V. Amina was detained in Galle in December at the request of a leading German bank. It fled into international waters on Wednesday afternoon, leaving questions about the circumstances of its escape.
The Navy claimed that the ship was anchored more than 12 nautical miles away from the coastline. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, this meant it was not within Sri Lanka’s jurisdiction.
Shipping authorities said, however, that M.V. Amina had been arrested and anchored in Sri Lankan waters —and that it appears to have “moved away”. It escaped around 4.30 pm.
M.V. Amina is owned by Rahbaran Omid Darya Ship Management Company. Official US documents reveal that this is the new name of Soroush Sarzamin Asatir Ship Management Company. Soroush is a subsidiary of Iran’s national maritime carrier, Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL).
The US blacklisted IRISL in 2008 for “providing logistical services” to Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL). The Ministry has authority over Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organisation, the arm of the Iranian military that oversees the country’s ballistic missile programme.
The same year, the US also blacklisted 18 IRISL subsidiaries. In 2011, it expanded this to a five more subsidiaries including Soroush. A notice issued by the US Foreign Assets Control Office in November 2011 refers to “Soroush Sarzamin Asatir Ship Management Company (a.k.a Rahbaran Omid Darya Ship Management Company)”. The EU calls it “Soroush Saramin Asatir (SSA) a.k.a. Soroush Sarzamin Asatir Ship Management Company a.k.a. Rabbaran Omid Darya Ship Management Company alias Sealeaders”.
The companies are accused of aiding IRISL in evading sanctions. Vessels owned by blacklisted entities are treated as “blocked property”. A large number of ships owned by Rahbaran have had their classifications withdrawn by the Lloyd’s Register on account of the sanctions. The US and EU continue to grapple with the challenge of identifying new IRISL front companies and vessels. It could not be immediately verified whether the US Embassy in Colombo had expressed concern to Sri Lanka over the escape of M.V. Amina. The Germany Embassy said it was observing the developments related to this issue.
The ship sailed into Sri Lankan waters in December. Acting through its lawyers, Neelakandan and Neelakandan, Germany’s DV Bank SE obtained a court order to detain the vessel.
“A warrant was issued on December 12 and it was served on December 14,” Merchant Shipping Director General A.W. Seneviratne said. “The vessel was detained when in our territorial waters. Then it moved. I don’t know how it moved.”
When questioned further, Mr. Seneviratne said he had checked the coordinates with the National Aquatic Resources, Research and Development Agency (NARA). “I have the documents and I have verified the initial and later positions,” he elaborated. A spokesman for Neelakandan and Neelakandan said MV Amina made its first attempt to flee around midnight on January 3. It stopped when the Navy fired warning shots. The firm also said that two Navy boats had been deployed to guard the vessel from the day it was detained.
“We have received instructions from our client on how to proceed but we cannot reveal details,” the spokesman added.
Navy Spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya denied that two boats were guarding MV Amina. “We did not have boats deployed in that area purely for guarding this vessel,” he said. “There are generally boats in that area on naval patrol. We can give necessary coverage over radar.”
“The vessel was not in our waters but about 17 nautical miles away,” Commander Warnakulasuriya said. “It can pull up and go and we cannot stop it because it is not within our jurisdiction and it had not committed a crime in our waters.”
“We saw it on the radar and we made several requests over communication sets to respond but the vessel did not respond,” he said. When asked how the vessel had been held by Sri Lankan authorities if it had not been within jurisdiction, he refused to answer. “Ask the Director General of Merchant Shipping,” he said.
Mr. Seneviratne said the ship did not carry any contraband. It had 24 crew members on board. DV Bank wanted it detained as part of an effort to collect millions as dues from the shipping line. The bank specialises in commercial transportation finance.
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