Info:
Moonlight Shipping is owned by Wang Xiaoping who, in corporate records, listed a Dalian, China, based address identified by the U.S. Treasury Department as an address for COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Seaman And Ship Management Co., Ltd.;
The company, a subsidiary of Chinese shipping giant COSCO, was sanctioned in 2019 alongside a number of other companies and their executives for transporting oil from Iran. The COSCO subsidiary was dissolved after it was sanctioned, though the address is still used by other subsidiaries of the shipping giant, corporate and maritime records show;
Moonlight Shipping also operated the Themis until late January 2021, relinquishing its position in the vessel shortly after the Freya was seized, maritime records show. The Themis also shut off its AIS transponder for three days in December 2020 west of Kalimantan, near where the Horse and Freya were seized, according to maritime records. It was still operated by Moonlight Shipping at the time, records show;
Themis’ current operator, Shanghai Prosperity Ship Management, has a history of assuming management of vessels tied to networks implicated in Iran-related petroleum trade. It operates three vessels that had been operated by COSCO’s Dalian-based subsidiaries around the time they were sanctioned, maritime records show;
Profits from oil sales support the IRGC’s full range of nefarious activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad;
According to the U.S. Treasury Department – Individuals and entities engaged in certain transactions involving petroleum or petroleum products from Iran or certain Iran-related persons on the SDN List should be aware that engaging in such conduct may result in designation or other sanctions under U.S. sanctions authorities unless an exception applies. Those who knowingly engage in significant transactions for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran — or knowingly provide significant support to an Iranian person on OFAC’s List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List), such as the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), and the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) — are at serious risk of being targeted by the United States for sanctions, regardless of the location or nationality of those engaging in such activities. Further, persons providing bunkering services to vessels transporting petroleum or petroleum products from Iran risk being subject to sanctions unless an applicable waiver or exception applies.The United States continues to take strong action to deny the Government of Iran funds derived from the illicit exportation of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran;
Industry:
Shipping Industry
Country:
Singapore
China
Address:
10 Buroh Street #04-35, West Connect Building Singapore
Reason for the color:
» Seized vessel shows wider ties to illicit Iranian oil trade networks;
» OFAC Advisory to the Maritime Petroleum Shipping Community – September 4, 2019;