The US has sanctioned several ships, individuals and companies, to try to disrupt shipping and financial support for the Houthi militant group.
The Treasury Department has added five tankers, two middlemen, two management companies, a shipowner and an insurer to its blacklist.
It is the latest effort to disrupt the network of Sa’id al-Jamal, whom officials have long accused of being a financial facilitator for the Yemeni rebels through sales of Iranian commodities.
Among those targeted in the latest action by the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) is Mohammad Roslan Bin Ahmad. Based in Indonesia and holding Malaysian and Singaporean citizenship, he is accused of providing ship management and broking services to al-Jamal’s network.
Also known as Royston Wu Chiren or Mohammad Roslan Royston, he allegedly facilitated shipments to Malaysia and brokered vessels in the sanctioned Russian and Venezuelan trades.
He was blacklisted alongside Chinese national Zhuang Liang, whom authorities accused of helping with money laundering.
The Treasury Department alleges that al-Jamal’s activities have provided the Houthis with tens of millions of dollars in revenue, bankrolling their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and beyond.
Brian Nelson, undersecretary for terrorism & financial intelligence, said the latest moves underscore the department’s focus on disrupting a sprawling network of support for the Houthis.
“Treasury will continue to disrupt the actors who are critical to this network’s operations, as well as the Houthis’ ability to further destabilise the region and threaten international commerce,” he said.
Ofac reached further into what it described as an “illicit shipping network” by blacklisting Ascent General Insurance, which the Treasury accused of providing insurance to sanctioned vessels in al-Jamal’s network.
The Singapore and Thailand-based insurer could not be immediately reached for comment.
Ofac also named United Arab Emirates-based Fornacis Energy Trading for what officials described as purchasing and shipping “tens of millions of dollars’ worth” of Iranian cargo for the al-Jamal network. Contact information for the trading company was not available.
Three shipping companies were also slapped with sanctions, along with five ships under their control.
The Treasury Department named Dubai-based Barco Ship Management Inc on allegations that the al-Jamal network used its 45,000-dwt chemical and product tanker Wanji (built 2001) for “illicit shipments” to the UAE.
The ship manager also operates the 48,000-dwt product tanker Oceanic II (built 2003) and 159,200-dwt suezmax crude carrier Tirex (built 2001), which were both sanctioned on Thursday.
Also targeted was Sea Knot Shipping, the Marshall Islands-registered owner of the 105,700-dwt Mirova Dynamic (built 2003), which US officials accused of moving tens of millions of dollars worth of shipments for al-Jamal.
Equasis data shows the ship is in the fleet by Shanghai’s Cotar Ships Management, which was not accused of wrongdoing.
And Ofac sanctioned Alpha Shine Marine Services, a Dubai company that controls the 159,200-dwt tanker Kasper (built 2005), for making illicit shipments with forged documents.
None of the shipping companies could be immediately reached for comment.
