By Omar Bah
An Iranian trading tanker, which has changed names five times in five years, switched in December to The Gambia flag, the latest registry to provide regulatory safe haven to dark fleet tankers and gas carriers, Lloyd’s List journal has reported.
The very large crude carrier Anita, which has been used to store and ship oil between Iran and China for more than four years, has had five names and seven flags since 2020.
The Gambia joins Guinea, Guyana, Eswatini and St Maarten, as one of the key registries targeted by anonymous owners of ships transporting sanctioned energy commodities and grains to avoid regulatory oversight.
Anita, a 24-year-old crude carrier whose ownership and management is hidden behind an ever-changing number of shell companies in the Seychelles and India, is regularly used to store and ship crude oil between Iran and China. The vessed’s classification society and marine insurer is unknown. The ship began broadcasting that it was flagged in The Gambia on December 16, according to Lloyd’s List .
Anita sailed from the Guangzhou Wenchong shipyard at Nansha port in China on December 27, according to its Automatic Identification System, after arriving on October 17. It is now sailing in the South China Sea and broadcasting its destination to be the outer port limits of Singapore.
Another sanctioned product tanker, Sands, also switched to The Gambia in November. The 40,218dwt tanker, formerly known as Trophy and flagged in the Cook Islands, was designated by the US on October 17. The ship was one of five listed by the Office of Foreign Asset Control for being owned by UAE-based Ukrainian national Yevhen Skriabin and allegedly tied to illicit shipments of oil funding Iran and Houthis.
The Gambia is the latest registry to be exploited for lax regulatory oversight as flag-hopping tankers seek no-questions-answered countries to flag their vessels. Fraudulent registries purporting to represent Guinea, Eswatini and Guyana flag registries are also being used by sanctioned ships or those transporting sanctioned oil or energy commodities.
The Gambia has 23 ships registered according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, including six ships over 10,000 dwt.
Among them is Gas Leader that regularly ships sanctioned Iranian liquefied petroleum gas and was once linked to a London restaurateur who was a nexus for 13 vessels involved in the trade. Gas Leader reflagged in September after spending six months with Cook Islands. While the International Maritime Organisation has declared the registries of those tankers flagged with Guyana, Guinea, Eswatini and St Maarten to be false, no such declaration has been made about The Gambia. The government of The Gambia entered the ship registry business in 2022, with Lloyd’s List then reporting that many of the newly entered ships had been detained in European ports. Dark fleet tankers are known to exploit provisional registration, a feature that often allows them to remain with the flag over a three-month period, pending the submission of documents that never arrive. The ship is then provisionally registered elsewhere.
The IMO’s legal committee will address falsely flagged ships and fraudulent registries at its next meeting in April. Lloyd’s List defines a tanker as part of the dark fleet if it is aged 15 years or over, anonymously owned or has a corporate structure designed to obfuscate beneficial ownership discovery, solely deployed in sanctioned oil trades, and engaged in one or more of the deceptive shipping practices outlined in US State Department guidance issued in May 2020. The figures exclude tankers tracked to government-controlled shipping entities such as Russia’s Sovcomflot, or Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Co, and those already sanctioned.
Explanation
The Lloyd’s List journal could not reach The Gambia government for clarification but The Standard has managed to reach out to the Gambia Maritime Administration which provided the following explanations: “We make reference to the above caption ‘Dark fleet finds new registry as Iran-trading tanker reflags to Gambia’ brought to our attention and wish to assure your good office that the Gambia Maritime Administration provides regulatory oversight over vessels registered under the authority of The Gambia as per the existing International Maritime Organisation regulation in force.”
It added: “The administration granted the vessel Anita provisional registration on 7th November, 2024. It was previously registered under the flag of Sudan. Provisional registration allows ships to be temporarily flagged by the country for three months, allowing authorities to conduct due diligence on the ship’s activities before permanent registration.”
In addition, GMA added, the need for provisional registration is for the vessel to sail to the appropriate jurisdiction for technical survey with respect to standards set by IMO on ship safety, security, and environmental compliance.
“The flag appoints a flag state surveyor, who conducts this process on behalf of the state. Therefore, the ship, Anita, is allowed by regulation to stay on our provisional registry for three months, which is extendable for another three months while we continue to conduct due diligence. The vessel de-flagged immediately upon adverse findings during the due diligence process,” it added.
Further justifying its position, the administration said The Gambia flag has recently become attractive for international ship owners due to proactive flag administration backed by professional competence in the domain.
“In 2024, the administration registered 95 vessels, of which 45 were above 500 gross tonnes. These vessels account for 1,778,167 tonnes, which now positions the country in the 40 top maritime counties with the highest fleet tonnage. This trend is expected to increase the country’s maritime presence, improve the power of negotiations at the IMO, and strengthen our national maritime security as it allows the government to have control over vessels operating in international shipping lanes,” it stated.
Meanwhile The Standard has been reliably informed that the Gambia Maritime Administration has written to the Iranian company yesterday morning and requested for clarity on the matter. The Iran trading company’s response letter declaring its non-involvement with criminal acts seen by The Standard read: “I, the undersigned owner and representative of the vessel described above declare that the aforementioned vessel while registered as Gambian ship will not be involved in the illicit trade, carriage, storage and transportation of any armaments or ammunition whatsoever, illegal drugs, illegal refugees (human cargo), and any other illegal cargo as may be determined by UN circulars.”
It added: “I declare that the aforementioned vessel will not be involved in any terrorist activities, piracy and hijacking and will not be involved in any way in the disputes between nations or parties, or support civil unrest in any country,” it stated.
According to the company, it trades worldwide between the Middle East and Far East Asia and trades in crude oil.
“The vessel is a large, modern tanker designed for the safe and efficient transport of crude oil. It is equipped with advanced safety and navigation systems, ensuring compliance with international maritime standards. The vessel operates globally, focusing on transporting crude oil from refineries in the Middle East to various ports in Far East Asia,” it added.
