Trump administration cracks down on ‘deceptive’ shipping practices used by North Korea, Iran and Syria

The Trump administration is cracking down on shipping’s links with entities from Iran, North Korea, and Syria, three countries on Washington’s sanctions list.

The US issued a 35-page advisory yesterday to counter shipping practices used by North Korea, Iran and Syria to evade sanctions.

The document defines seven “deceptive” shipping practices linked to illicit maritime trade with North Korea, Iran and Syria.

They range from manipulating vessel identification systems, falsifying vessel documents to ship-to-ship transfers of cargo at sea and repeatedly registering with new flag states.

“Successful sanctions compliance programs often rely on fostering industry-wide awareness of challenges, threats, and risk mitigation measures,” the advisory states, urging vessel owners and P&I clubs to share information with the financial industry, potentially working though competent authorities where required, and flag administrations were advised to routinely pass information to the International Maritime Organization.