Bloomberg: Panama to revoke 128 licences for sanctioned ships due to US sanctions

The Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) plans to revoke the registration of 128 ships under its flag after they were sanctioned by the US, its allies, or the United Nations.

Ramón Franco, general director of merchant marine at the PMA, estimates a potential revenue loss of up to $2 million from this action, Caliber.Az reports, citing Bloomberg.

The move follows reports of Panamanian-flagged vessels appearing in sanctions lists issued by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and aligns with a pledge made last year in which the PMA reaffirmed "its unwavering commitment to protecting national interests" and penalizing blacklisted vessels.

“We are 100 years old and counting,” Franco said at a maritime conference in Singapore, emphasizing that at least 70 tankers have already been removed from the registry back in October. “We definitely are not going to be left behind in the face of current challenges of the industry and, of course, sanctions are one of them.”

The report notes that merchant ships often sail under flags of countries not necessarily tied to ownership, with flag states responsible for enforcing industry safety standards, inspections, and certifications. Panama, one of the world's largest flag registries, oversees more than 8,000 vessels, according to Franco.

With increasing restrictions on Russia’s and Iran’s energy sectors, Bloomberg points out that global scrutiny has intensified on the so-called “dark fleet” — aging, often uninsured vessels transporting sanctioned cargo. Some of these “shadow” ships have abandoned established registries in favor of more lenient ones, while others operate without any flag.

Panama’s decision to delist 128 additional ships follows an October policy change that accelerated the removal process, cutting it from five to six months to a period of one week to a month. The previous US administration under President Joe Biden took broad action before leaving office in January 2025, reinforcing G7 efforts to curb Russian energy revenues, including sanctioning two major Russian oil producers and an unprecedented number of oil-carrying vessels, many suspected of being part of the “shadow fleet” in question.

By Nazrin Sadigova