Sanctions impact Members’ cover

Recent news reports of a ship entered with an International Group club having its cover withdrawn for allegedly carrying armaments to Syria are a reminder to operators that sanctions regimes can impact on their business.

Restrictions on financial transactions, on dealings with designated parties, and on provision of insurance, may potentially restrict the ability of the Club to help and protect Members in the event of an incident.  Such sanctions can affect Members who can trade lawfully to states targeted by sanctions even where those regimes are not applicable to them or they permit the trade in question.

Members are reminded to review Rule 5V (Sanctions risks) which was circulated recently in Circular 4/12 ‘Sanctions regimes’.  This circular is in this website’s International sanctions section.  Other resources are provided there to support Members own measures to establish whether intended voyages are lawful and insurable. 

An updated set of FAQs in respect of the latest Iran sanctions were published last month by the International Group.  They are reproduced in the International Sanctions section of the website.  A useful flowchart gives guidance on compliance with these sanctions.

Although our last update on Syrian sanctions was published in February, the latest information is provided by links to two excellent resources on current sanctions regimes. 

The HM Treasury website and the US Treasury website both provide individual sections on each of the sanctions regimes that they maintain including financial sanctions, licensing arrangements, guidelines and FAQs.

Should you have any detailed enquiries regarding these sanctions and the operation of the Club or the cover it provides, please contact Nigel Carden (Tel: +44 20 7204 2147;    Email: nigel.carden@thomasmiller.com) or Chao Wu (Tel +44 20 7204 2157, Email: chao.wu@thomasmiller.com)