Washington slapped sanctions on two more tankers and their owners for supporting Houthis, on the same day that the militant group mounted another destructive attack against a ship with ties to the US.
The US Treasury Department said the vessels blacklisted on Wednesday were used to carry Iranian shipments for Houthi financial facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal, who is allegedly supported by the Quds Force of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Treasury under-secretary Brian Nelson said the Quds Force and Houthis continue to finance attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden through the “illicit sale” of commodities.
“The US remains resolved to hold accountable those who enable these destabilising activities,” he said in a statement.
After the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control placed the first tanker and shipowner on its sanctions list on 27 February, the agency blacklisted the 106,000-dwt product carrier Reneez (built 2002) and one-ship owner Reneez Shipping, as well as the 319,000-dwt crude tanker Eternal Fortune (built 2002) and its owner Hongkong Unitop Group.
The Palau-flagged Reneez, an LR2 tanker, is accused of transporting tens of thousands of tonnes of Iranian commodities for the network of al-Jamal, who is already subject to sanctions.
The ship’s owner, Reneez Shipping, is registered in the Marshall Islands with no known contact information.
The vessel is listed as managed by Dubai-based Fort Blue Ship Management. Like the owner, the company has no other ships in its fleet and no known contact information, according to Equasis.
The Eternal Fortune, a Panama-flagged VLCC, is accused of being involved in a ship-to-ship transfer with the 151,800-dwt suezmax tanker Artura (built 1998), which was the first ship to be blacklisted by Ofac since the Houthi’s Ansar Allah organisation was redesignated as a terrorist group.
The US Treasury Department said both tankers were broadcasting false locations during the transfer.
The Eternal Fortune is the only ship controlled by Hongkong Unitop, according to Equasis.
The ship is managed by Ryan Shipping, which is also based in Hong Kong, and it has no other ships listed to its name.
Neither company could be reached for comment for this story.
As the Treasury Department increasingly takes action against Houthi financing, the Yemen-based militant group’s attacks on shipping have only become more destructive.
After one vessel attacked by Houthis sank in the Red Sea, three seafarers are missing after a strike on the 50,448-dwt bulker True Confidence (built 2011) on Wednesday.
