Reuters: World News: Exclusive: Bolivia poised to de-flag Iranian ships

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Exclusive: Bolivia poised to de-flag Iranian ships Apr 18th 2012, 17:03 By Daniel Fineren DUBAI | Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:03pm EDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Bolivia is poised to strike fifteen vessels linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines off its shipping register just weeks after IRISL found Bolivian replacements for their Maltese and Cypriot flags. IRISL, its many subsidiaries and their dozens of ships have been sanctioned by the United States, United Nations and the European Union for their suspected role in transporting military equipment for Tehran. Merchant ships need a flag from national ship registries to gain access to most of the world's ports and many fly those of other countries - especially Panama, Liberia, the Bahamas, Malta and Cyprus - to avoid paying taxes in their home countries. Despite a 2010 U.N. resolution on dealing with Iranian government front companies, until recently Maltese flags still fluttered at the masts of 48 of 144 IRISL vessels identified by the EU, while Cypriot colors flew above 12. Malta delisted one Iranian tanker, the M.T.Tour, after reports it had loaded up with sanctioned Syrian crude in late March, and threatened to deflag others found violating EU rules. With Malta and Cyprus coming under increased pressure from to stop flagging Iranian government-linked ships, there has been a flurry of registrations in the last few months half a world away in landlocked Bolivia by two new front companies. The head of the Bolivian registry told Reuters there was no sign that any of the vessels registered over the last few weeks were Iranian but if there was any evidence of sanctions violating vessels Bolivia would remove them from the list. "We don't have any evidence that these vessels are Iranian," Zoilo Roca Kikunaga, the director of the Bolivian International Ship Registry said in an email to Reuters. "If any of the ships are in breach of sanctions imposed by the U.N., or other group of countries, its registration will be cancelled." IRISL plays a complex cat-and-mouse game by frequently shifting the official registered owners, flags and names of vessels in an attempt to conceal their connection to the firm Washington and Brussels say is a key supply network for what they suspect is an Iran nuclear weapons program. Eight formerly Cyprus flagged vessels and six former Maltese flag fliers are currently showing Bolivian flags after changing many of their ship names and registering them under the names of the Andulena Corporation and the Auris Marine Company - two apparently new front companies. A spokesman for the Bolivian shipping registry in La Paz told Reuters that the registration focuses on the safety of the ship, rather than an in depth investigation of ownership. But if the applications are found to be fraudulent and IRISL or one of its subsidiaries the owner then the vessels would be struck off the registry and the ship owners would not get their registration fee back. "If they have created a company only to cover up links to U.N. sanctioned companies then of course we would remove them," he said. Although the three oil tankers registered by Auris Marine kept their names when submitting their applications to landlocked Bolivia - most of those registered by Andulena were changed to female Spanish names. But their IRISL ownership can still be traced through their International Maritime Organization (IMO) numbers - which cannot be reassigned to other vessels. Cross referencing of IMO numbers by Reuters of the list of vessels supplied by Bolivian authorities shows that all the vessels have been identified by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control as IRISL owned and are listed on the U.S. weapons of mass destruction proliferators (NPWMD) blacklist. Issuers of what critics call "flags of convenience" which are subject to the laws of the flagging country, also typically charge lower fees and may have less stringent. For a FACTBOX on Iranian ships flying Bolivian flags click: For a special related special report: link.reuters.com/daf66s (Editing by William Hardy) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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