• SL Co. tech manager of dark fleet tanker?

The United States Government has listed a Sri Lanka-based company as part of a new sanctions regime levelled against the Iranian Minister of Petroleum and alleged ‘shadow oil tanker fleet operations’, which the US Government has sought to curb for several years.

“Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating Iran’s Minister of Petroleum, Mohsen Paknejad, who oversees the export of tens of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil and has allocated billions of dollars’ worth of oil to Iran’s armed forces for export…” the US Department of Treasury said in a press release yesterday (13).

“The Iranian regime continues to use the proceeds from the nation’s vast oil resources to advance its narrow, alarming self-interests at the expense of the Iranian people,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “The Treasury will fight and disrupt any attempts by the regime to fund its destabilising activities and further its dangerous agenda. Today’s action is being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13902, which target Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors, and marks the third round of sanctions targeting Iranian oil sales since the President issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 on 4 February 2025, ordering a campaign of maximum pressure on Iran,” the statement read, adding that “Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum and the Iranian armed forces rely on a vast shadow fleet of vessels to disguise oil shipments worth billions of dollars for delivery to the People's Republic of China (PRC).”

The OFAC has listed Sri Lanka-based Marine Solution (Pvt.) Ltd., under the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) category and, according to them, serves as the registered owner and technical manager of the Barbados-flagged crude oil tanker MT SHANNON II (IMO: 9237797). According to the US treasury, the SL-based company was established in 2024.