and is preparing to auction them off after a Singaporean court ruled the Iranian owners had defaulted on a French loan.
The seizure is the latest chapter in the cat-and-mouse game with Iran over sanctions. The ships are owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which has been trying to evade sanctions for months by changing the names and flags of its ships and creating front companies to appear as owners and operators of the vessels.
The three ships—Tuchal, Sahand and Sabalan—were seized on orders of the Singapore High Court. They are now anchored off Singapore’s south coast while preparations are made to auction them off in what is called a sheriff’s sale. The sale was scheduled for December 14, but the Iran Times had received no word on the outcome before going to press.
The French creditor, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, has so far not commented on the seizure that it initiated in the Singapore court.
Mohammad Dajmar, chairman of IRISL, said the seizure was an illegal application of sanctions. “It was not because of debt,” Dajmar said, calling the seizure political
He explained, “We had a loan,” with the three ships as collateral. He said the French bank changed it “from a loan to a due payment because of sanctions. In other words, they committed a violation because the loan contract was signed before the sanctions.”
Dajmar said, “We are trying to prevent the auctioning. We are negotiating to pay them [the bank] ourselves and resolve the issue.”
Dajmar said the ships were seized “a few days ago,” but the Maritime Bulletin reported that court papers reported the Tuchal seized September 9 and the other vessels seized September 14.
The three ships each displace 66,000 tons and were built in 2008. The Straits Times of Singapore said they were estimated to be worth $5.5 million altogether.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which oversees sanctions, issued a legal document last week that would allow the three ships to be sold without being encumbered by US sanctions.
The three vessels were put under sanctions by the US Treasury Sept.10, 2008. They are currently registered in Germany and flying the German flag.