On Monday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded the German shipping service Germanischer Lloyd (GL) for pledging to end its certification of Iranian shipping vessels, specifically those of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC). Last week, UANI publicly called on GL to do precisely that.
In a June 15 letter to UANI, GL informed UANI that: “ It is of the utmost importance that we maintain our good reputation. Therefore we have pursued the decision to cease rendering services to the Iranian companies mentioned in your letter.”
UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace said:
“We applaud GL for deciding to stop certifying Iranian vessels. We accept GL’s pledge, and we applaud GL for making this swift and responsible decision.
The European shipping industry is now set to help deny the Iranian regime critical access to global trade and seaborne crude oil exports. We call on shipping certification companies in other parts of the world to follow the lead of their European counterparts, and stop certifying Iranian vessels. GL is absolutely correct in stating that working with the Iranian regime is badly damaging to a corporation’s good name and reputation.”
UANI has highlighted the shipping industry as an area where the international community can further pressure Iran. Last week, the French shipping service Bureau Veritas ended its certifying of Iranian vessels in response to UANI, a development covered by Reuters. In the past weeks, UANI also received confirmation from the Polish Register of Shipping and the Croatian Register of Shipping, respectively, that they do not provide any certification services to Iranian vessels or Iranian companies.
In a March 17 Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, six UANI board members wrote that “the world must deny Iran’s access to international shipping, a move that would severely affect the regime given its dependence on global trade and seaborne crude oil exports.”
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Source: UANI, June 19, 2012; Image: GL