Iran Threatens Legal Action Against Sinokor-Related Ships From Nov. 1

Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) said it would take legal action against vessels related to South Korean shipper Sinokor beginning Sunday, Nov. 1, warning cargo owners, beneficiaries and insurance providers.

The authority alleged that Sinokor vessels had the highest number of passage violations over the previous three months. It said it had taken enforcement measures against at least seven vessels but did not describe those measures or specify what legal action it planned.

The vessels at issue were not beneficially owned by Sinokor, had been re-chartered to an overseas oil company and had foreign crews. Sinokor was checking the separate warning.

Sinokor-owned ships carried 105.6 million barrels of crude through the Strait of Hormuz in September, almost 40% of the crude transiting the waterway that month. The figure counts ships by ownership and measures crude passing through Hormuz, not all Persian Gulf oil exports.

The warning follows an earlier statement by an adviser to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that routes Iran considers illegal would be closed. The PGSA notice does not define which vessels are considered related to Sinokor.