The SeaLead Shipping operated and owned Paya Lebar transited
westbound through the Strait
of Hormuz westbound into the Gulf on April 13 having been at anchor in Nhava Sheva, India since
late March.
While
in the Gulf the vessel called at Jebel Ali and Khalifa ports in the UAE and
Hamad in Qatar.
The Paya Lebar crossed the Strait of Hormuz
eastbound on April 29 - passing the approximate location of the US naval blockade in the Arabian Sea as it heads
back to Nhava Sheva.
The movements of the Paya Lebar would imply a
change in policy by SeaLead which said on March 02 in customer advisory it had
halted all transits through the Strait of Hormuz for the safety of its crews,
ships, and cargoes.
In July last year the US Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) sanctioned 16 container ships the company had on charter
over links with Iran. SeaLead acted to quickly terminate the charters on the 16
vessels and denied it had ties with Iran.
However, in March this year the US Department of Justice
filed civil forfeiture complaints seeking to seize US$2.4 million in funds
allegedly intended for SeaLead Shipping and its Indian subsidiary, as part of a
broader action targeting more than US$15.3 million tied to a sanctions-evasion
network linked to Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of a senior adviser to
Iran’s Supreme Leader.
