Panama moves to strike off three tankers the US sanctioned over Iranian trade

Panama's Maritime Authority (AMP) has begun cancelling the registrations of three Panama-flagged tankers that the US Treasury sanctioned on 8 October over the carriage of Iranian oil and petrochemicals, La Estrella de Panamá reports. The AMP told the newspaper it had placed restrictions on Bitu, Starway and Mackerel in its system and opened the cancellation process on its own initiative under Executive Decree 512 of 2024. The authority also disputed links to six ships named on the UK's new Russian shadow fleet list, among them Yehope, Anaya and Bellaris, saying each had left the Panamanian registry months before the British announcement. It blamed possible update delays on private ship-tracking platforms for the discrepancy.

This is a summary in our own words of the linked reporting. Allegations are those of the source. How we report.