Tanzania probing ship flag scandal

Harare. Tanzania has launched fresh investigations to establish whether Iranian oil tankers were still illegally using the national flag to evade shipping sanctions imposed on Iran by the US and the European Union (EU).

Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation minister Bernard Membe says the government has been alerted on the new reflagging and directed the relevant state organs to thoroughly look into the matter.

He told The Citizen on Sunday this week in Zimbabwe where he is leading Tanzania’s election observation mission, that the probe into the scam would take about a month to complete. Thereafter, he added, the head of state would be advised accordingly.

Mr Membe said that if it was true that the national flag was still being wrongfully used, Tanzania would officially complain to Iran and involve the international community to resolve the issue.

“We will convene a high level meeting to discuss the issue, which apart from Tanzania and Iran, would also be attended by representatives from the US and United Nations,” the minister said on Thursday.

Mr Membe was responding to this newspaper’s exclusive revelation last week that Iranian oil tankers were still sailing using the Tanzanian flag but under a new cover to avoid detection. The exposure comes almost a year after Tanzania had deregistered 36 Iranian vessels that a shipping agent based in Dubai had reflagged with the Tanzanian flag without the country’s knowledge and approval.

According to latest shipping intelligence, the tankers no longer fly the Tanzanian flag but still use signals assigned to identify Tanzania in international maritime traffic. About a fortnight ago, the Foundation for Defence of Democracies of the US said that since the beginning of this month, 34 Iranian oil tankers have signalled as registered to Tanzania.

The New York-based watchdog organisation United Against Nuclear Iran said 32 tankers of the blacklisted NITC, which owns the vessels that were deregistered last year, were still signalling the Tanzanian flag. The organisation played a key role in exposing links between Tanzania’s flag and Iran’s tankers, which the government had initially denied.

It conceded only after evidence showed that Iran secured the cover through Zanzibar, which had contracted Philtex of Dubai to oversee its ship registration services.

The incident triggered mounting international pressure for Tanzania to be penalised.

Reflagging ships masks their ownership, which makes it easier for Iran to avoid attracting attention from the US and EU, which have embargoed its crude oil exports.