Indian Register of Ships Decertifies 235 Shadow Fleet Tankers

Without certification, vessels cannot obtain insurance and access to ports — the total tonnage of the vessels removed is about 13 million gross tons.

India’s IRClass ship registry decertified 235 vessels, mostly oil tankers, for their involvement in evading international sanctions. This is reported by Reuters.

“From 2023, we will not accept any sanctioned vessels – US, European or British,” said IRClass chief executive Arun Sharma. The total tonnage of removed ships is about 13 million gross tons.

India’s steps stand in stark contrast to China, which last month ordered its companies to ignore US restrictions on five oil tankers carrying Iranian energy. At the same time, the Indian government continues to buy Russian oil – but does not dare to violate sanctions on liquefied gas.

At the same time, Sharma warned that the refusal of certification risks increasing the number of vessels without any supervision and safety standards, replenishing the “shadow fleet” with vessels that are no longer subject to any control at all.

Before that, India asked the US to extend permission to import Russian oil because of the Persian Gulf war.