Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) has expanded its list of “non-compliant vessels” by 21 ships, taking the total to 77 and warning that those on the list face possible fines, detention or confiscation during future passages of the Strait of Hormuz. The latest additions are dominated by crude oil tankers, ranging from Aframaxes to VLCCs, alongside product carriers, bulkers, an LPG carrier and an LNG carrier.
Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) has the largest number of new additions, with four vessels: Burgan, Al Salam II, Al Riqqa and Al Kout. Burgan and Al Salam II have both been targeted in Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. KOTC’s Kaifan was already among the original 45 vessels on the blacklist, taking the company’s total to five.
Bahri has also seen its exposure increase. Its VLCC Sidr, which was struck on 31 August in an attack that killed two Filipino seafarers, has been added to the list, as has Silver Shine, bringing Bahri’s total to six vessels. Sidr is not the only new entrant to the PGSA blacklist to have suffered a crew fatality.
Bulker Riyan Star was targeted in a fatal Iranian attack in mid-August, when a drone strike killed one seafarer and sparked an engine-room fire. Metro Venetian is the final new entrant previously targeted by Iran. The vessel was struck and disabled on 24 August in the Strait of Hormuz, off Oman.
An outlier among the 21 additions is Riesco, a crude tanker that was falsely flagged in Zimbabwe and is listed in maritime databases as having been sold to an undisclosed interest. The vessel was sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) late last year over its links to the Iranian oil trade.
It subsequently became the target of a US attack on 8 September and sank in the Gulf of Oman. The expanded list also includes three vessels linked to UAE-based trader ONEX: On Pride, On Peace and On Phoenix. On Pride reported a projectile landing about 1.5 nautical miles from its position in early August, although the master suspected that the projectile may have been aimed at another vessel.
Dyanacom has had a second tanker added to the blacklist, with Pserimos joining Kavomaleas.