The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Wednesday 21 October designated (put on the US sanctions list) Karnakis and Karnakis, a law firm in Panama City with an office in Piraeus, under Executive Order 139021. Treasury says the firm set up shell companies that own shadow-fleet ships (vessels that hide their ownership to carry sanctioned cargo) moving Iranian steel, oil and petrochemicals, and that its staff sat as their nominal directors (directors in name only)2. Its sanctions entry reads "Organization Type: Legal activities".
OFAC's earlier October rounds hit ships and their managers. This one goes a layer down, to the people Treasury says sign the incorporation papers. The same action named five Panamanian individuals and three firms, and blocked nine ships. Roxette Maritime Shipping and Trading manages seven Panama-flagged dry cargo ships; Amigoz Singapore is a port agent; Dubai's Whales Shipping Line has two support vessels flagged in the United Arab Emirates. "Either you are with us or against us," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent3.
OFAC also issued General Licence HH, which allows crew-safety measures, emergency repairs, bunkering (refuelling) and salvage until 20 November, but only for the seven Roxette ships and never in an Iranian or Russian port4. No general authority of that kind has existed since General Licence DD lapsed on 23 September with no successor. A ship in distress near Iran that Treasury has not blacklisted still has no such cover, and the two Whales vessels are missing from the licence's annex.
On 19 October Energy Secretary Chris Wright told a Citadel Securities event in New York that the administration will let investors buy sanctioned tankers and refit them to carry other oil. "We are converting dark tankers to legitimate tankers. There is no removing of sanctions," he said, putting the shadow fleet at about 1,600 ships5. Two arms of the same government are now working the fleet from opposite ends: Energy wants hulls bought out and cleaned up, Treasury keeps adding them to the blacklist.
