Shipping Lines (IRISL) flatly denied Friday that any IRISL ship had been detained in Hong Kong—but unfortunately Hong Kong had already officially announced that IRISL’s container ship Decretive had been detained for more than a month.
Mohammad-Hossain Dajmar, the head of IRISL, denied any vessel was detained in Hong Kong, though he acknowledged a ship had been detained “in another country.” Malta detained Dandle last month.
The day before Dajmar denied the ship seizure in Hong Kong, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Judiciary announced that Decretive, a Maltese-flagged container vessel, was detained back on November 14.
The Hong Kong authorities acted on the request of four European banks, led by the German-based HSH Nordbank, over alleged loan defaults totaling $268 million.
While the ship’s detention was not directly caused by the international sanctions against Iran, the incident shows how Iranian companies are struggling to maintain operations in the face of policies that are intended to tie them in knots.
Decretive is one of five vessels linked to IRISL that the European banks want to seize as part of loan foreclosure proceedings over the alleged defaults.
Western powers led by the United States have accused IRISL of transporting missile-related and proliferation-related military cargo for Iran’s government in defiance of sanctions.
The seizure case is pending in Hong Kong, but no date has yet been fixed for a hearing as the parties attempt to reach a settlement.
The ship was anchored 2.3 kilometers off the coast of Hong Kong. It was photographed by the South China Morning Post Thursday, the day before Dajmar denied it was detained. On the stern, standing out from the ship’s black and red livery, bright white capital letters spelled out the ship’s name and Valletta, the Maltese capital where it is currently registered in an effort to evade sanctions.
No cargo was visible aboard the ship, the Morning Post reported, although three men were seen on board. They would not say who they were or where the rest of the ship’s former cargo and crew were.
The ship’s nominal owner, Malta-based Sixth Ocean, and shipping manager Hafiz Darya Shipping, have been designated by the United States as front companies for IRISL.
In 2006, the European banks issued the loans, for which IRISL is a guarantor, for the construction and delivery of five ships. The loans were issued in US dollars, which became a source of difficulty for IRISL after the US tightened its noose on Iranian transactions in the US dollar.
Hong Kong’s and Malta’s impounding of the two ships follows similar action against three IRISL ships by Singapore. That case, brought by Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, seeks $210 million in alleged loan defaults and additional costs. The three German-flagged container ships—Sabalan, Sahand and Tuchal—were held in September on a warrant issued by Singapore’s High Court. IRISL is fighting to prevent the sale of the ships at open auction and says it has repaid the loan. A court hearing is due in early January.
IRISL has faced increasing difficulties operating since March 2008, when the United Nations Security Council issued a resolution calling on member states to inspect cargoes to and from Iran on ships operated by IRISL when there was suspicion that prohibited goods were being carried.
But the current problems involving the five ships have nothing directly to do with the UN sanctions. Instead, those problems stem from the American effort to throttle Iran’s use of the international banking system.