In astatement emailed to TradeWinds the Greek bulker and tanker operator said the allegationswere untrue and called on Ambassador Mark Wallace, the Manhattan-basednon-profit’s chief executive, to abandon the its'name and shame' campaign.
EST admittedthat two of its bulkers recently called on Iranian ports but claims the 92,700-dwt Helvetia One(built 2012) and 72,300-dwt Bergen Max(ex-Bunga Saga Tiga, built 1994) did not violate international sanctionsbecause they were carrying humanitarian aid.
“Mr. Wallace is very aware that the shipmentswere made under time charter parties with prominent trading entities whichappear on UANI’s own website as companies with permission from the USgovernment to provide humanitarian aid to the Iranian people,” the owner added.
“His desperate and shameful attempts to defameEST without a single shred of evidence leave him and UANI fully exposed tofurther serious legal retributions,” it continued before calling on Wallace to abandonwhat it described as a “personal campaign” against EST and Restis.
The board seat
The company acknowledged that it filed adefamation suit against UANI and its chief executive in an effort “to set therecord straight” and admitted to trying to strike a settlement out of court beforetalks soured but denied that it offered to make a donation to the organisation.
“Despite UANI’s allegations, it is totally untruethat EST ever offered any donation to UANI or any payments to its CEO, Mr.Wallace,” it said before noting it was, however, prepared to make “acontribution towards the substantial legal bills” that UANI incurred as aresult of the lawsuit.
EST admitted that it offered the former diplomat aseat on the board of affiliate Golden Energy but said the gesture was meant to demonstrateits “full support” of the group’s mission by giving him an opportunity to learnabout the tanker business and see it is not engaged in unlawful trading.
“Mr Wallace was invited to join the board ofdirectors of tanker managers Golden Energy Management on a pro-bono basis,” thecompany continued in Monday’s statement, adding: “EST never offered to pay MrWallace in any way for his services.”
Documents paint a different picture
While the company claims it never offered to makea donation to UANI there is a clear reference to a $400,000 “donation” in atleast two drafts of a tentative settlement agreement that one of the shipowner’sattorneys emailed to Wallace and members of the organisation’s legal team.
Though EST claims it never violated sanctions italso told the non-profit it had instituted a compliance policy that prohibitedthe operator and its affiliates, including Golden Energy, from “doingany business in or with” Iran or “its agents and instrumentalities”.
UANI, which took this to meanthe plaintiff had agreed to ensure its vessels would not call on Iran regardlessof the cargo they were carrying, agreed on the initial terms of the settlementbut walked away when it learned about the bulkers, which promptedthe latest seriesof allegations.
Documents obtained byTradeWinds indicate the group was also angered by a provision that would haverequired it to release a statement about an internal audit that found Restisand his associates had never violated sanctions since it was not permitted toreview the findings.
Family affair
Both the Bergen Max and HelvetiaOne are classed by Bureau Veritas, which locked horns with UANI in 2012 beforeagreeing to “disengagecompletely from all marine activities related to Iran” shortly after it wastargeted by one of the advocacy group’s campaigns.
The latter of the two vessels maintainsprotection-and-indemnity coverage with the American P&I Club (American Club) and the formerdid too until recently when its policy was transferred to the London P&IClub, according to the Equasis database.
Restis served as a director of the American Club until2006 but EST has managed to maintain its presence to this day as his oldersister, KatiaRestis, was elected to the board the same year her brother stepped down.
