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Panama removes more than 650 vessels from its registry amid sanctions and stricter rules

Panama's Maritime Authority said that it has removed more than 650 ships from its registry since 2019, as part of a campaign to comply with U.S. sanction and enforce stricter regulations for the vessels it flags.

The authority said that since last year, 214 ships have been removed from Panama's register, which is among the largest in the world with over 8,500 vessels.

Once removed from the registry, ships cannot sail under Panamanian flag.

Panama has responded to criticism from non-governmental group United Against Nuclear Iran. UANI, which said last week that Panama had taken insufficient action against sanction violations and asked for it to "immediately stop facilitating Iran's illegal oil trade" as well as withdraw its flag on all tankers transporting Iranian oil.

UANI reports that nearly one fifth of the vessels suspected to be transporting Iranian oil are flying under Panamanian flag.

"This is more than a registry failure in Panama. "It's a direct danger to global sanctions compliance, regional security and U.S. safety," the report said.

Panama signed in 2019 an agreement with Liberia, Marshall Islands and other flag countries to exchange information on vessels whose registrations have been canceled or rejected because of potential sanctions violations. The Panamanian government has also begun to take action against ships who deliberately disable their transponders in order to avoid being tracked.

The authority announced in May that it would strengthen controls on ship-to-ship activities by Panamanian flagged vessels. This was due to an increase of the use "dark fleet" tankers as a way to avoid sanctions or environmental requirements.

The U.S. increased pressure on countries that have large vessel registrations to help enforce sanctions. U.S. president Donald Trump has criticised the expansion of dark fleets of oil tankers that are moving sanctioned crude and threatened to takeover the Panama Canal.

In a press release, the Central American country said it was working with the United States to improve its registry. (Reporting and writing by Elida Moreno; editing by Leslie Adler, Rod Nickel and Marianna Pararaga)

(source: Reuters)