US sanctions Chandigarh false-flag registry network, warns shipping industry

Treasury designated a Chandigarh couple, their ship management and registry firms, and warned banks and insurers that servicing falsely flagged ships carries sanctions risk.

By Procupy News DeskPublished 5 Nov 2026, 7:07 AM IST4 min readSource: The Economic Times

In 60 words

US Treasury sanctioned Suniel Kumar Sharma, Jaspreet Preeti Shahid and their companies, including Chandigarh-based Aryavart Ship Management, plus the Singapore-registered Eswatini ship registry, on 4 November. Treasury said the network issued false flags and certificates to tankers carrying Iranian oil. OFAC also warned insurers, banks and other service providers that falsely flagged vessels carry sanctions risk.

Key points

OFAC listed Sharma, Shahid, Aryavart Ship Management, Oceaniek Technologies India and the Singapore-registered Eswatini registry on 4 November¹.
Treasury said the network issued false flags and certification to sanctioned tankers carrying Iranian petroleum, some for Iran's military or proxies^2, 3.
OFAC's industry alert names flag and MMSI mismatches, unverifiable registration papers and unknown flags as warning signs².
Treasury said falsely flagged ships can carry no indemnity insurance and lack regulatory oversight^2, 3.

The US Treasury on 4 November sanctioned an India-based network that it says ran fraudulent ship registries and issued false flags to tankers carrying Iranian oil^4, 2.

The action names Suniel Kumar Sharma, his wife Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, and their Chandigarh companies Aryavart Ship Management Private Limited and Oceaniek Technologies India¹. It also names Eswatini Maritime Affairs and International Ship Registry Pte Ltd, a company registered in Singapore¹.

OFAC, Treasury's sanctions arm, added the names to the SDN list the same day¹. The list holds people and firms the US has blocked¹. Two other Chandigarh residents, Ashwani Kumar Dhiman and Ishwinder Singh, were also listed¹. In all, the action covers four people and nine companies and organisations, including the three named above^1, 3. Several of those firms give Chandigarh addresses in the SDN entry¹.

Treasury called the operation "the vast criminal network" run by Sharma and Shahid³. Neither report mentioned any contact with Indian authorities^4, 3.

What Treasury says the network did

According to Treasury, the scheme goes back to at least 2014. Sharma and Shahid sought to impersonate the flag administration of Dominica that year². The network bought web domains and built sites that claimed to offer flagging, seafarer training, certification and vessel classification³. The sites looked like national ship registries, gCaptain reported².

Sharma's SDN entry lists several websites, including ema.org.sz, epnicaragua.org and timorleste-registry.org¹.

Outlets list slightly different countries whose flag authorities were faked. gCaptain reported Guyana, Eswatini, Laos, Aruba, Nicaragua and Sint Maarten². The Maritime Executive reported Aruba, Guyana, Mali, Mozambique, Malawi, Sint Maarten and Timor-Leste, plus Dominica in 2014⁴.

Treasury said Eswatini's authorities had publicly disavowed the registry. Sharma set it up in Singapore in 2023^4, 2. It kept registering vessels carrying Iranian oil after that disavowal, Treasury said².

Treasury also named tankers involved. According to gCaptain, they include PING SHUN (IMO 9231901), LATTAFA (IMO 9245794), BINARY STAR (IMO 9380570) and VERA (IMO 9304655)². Another, MAJESTIC X, formerly PHONIX (IMO 9198317), had been flying a fraudulent Guyana flag, gCaptain reported². US military forces seized it on 22 April while it carried Iranian oil².

A separate designation in the same action hit Turkey-based Fugo Ground Services Inc. Treasury said the firm kept providing ground handling services to sanctioned Iranian airlines^2, 3. The Economic Times named the airlines as Iran Air Tour, Saha Airlines, Taban Airlines and Ata Airlines³.

The move is part of Operation Economic Outcast. Treasury began the campaign in August 2026 against networks that support Iran's oil trade⁴. The US reimposed a blockade of Iranian ports on 14 July³.

The warning to banks, insurers and forwarders

OFAC issued an industry alert on false flags alongside the designations^2, 1. It warned that insurers, banks and other firms serving falsely flagged vessels can face sanctions or penalties².

It urged those firms to check counterparties more carefully. Warning signs include unknown flags and registration papers that cannot be verified². OFAC also lists a mismatch between a ship's flag and the country code in its MMSI number². So do flags from countries with no recognised ship registry².

The SDN entries for the network each carry a secondary sanctions risk note under Executive Order 13902¹. In plain terms, non-US firms that deal with them can also face US penalties². Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: "We know where you are, and we will sanction those who continue supporting the Iranian regime, whether by land, sea, or air"².

Why a false flag matters for cargo

Flag states must inspect and certify the ships that fly their flag. They also issue safety and pollution prevention papers⁵. Treasury said falsely flagged vessels may lack proper regulatory oversight and valid insurance cover².

Treasury said false flags and fake maritime certificates let vessels dodge international safety and environmental rules. It said such ships carry no indemnity insurance³. A major casualty involving one of them could cost coastal economies billions of dollars, it said^2, 3.

OFAC urged governments to investigate registries operating in their names. It asked them to report suspected cases to the International Maritime Organization, so databases show which vessels hold invalid registrations².

How to check a vessel's flag

Start with the IMO number. It is unique to the hull and does not change when the ship's name, owner or flag state changes⁶.
Verify the registration with the flag state, not with the registry website. Flag states carry the inspection and certification duties⁵. OFAC lists papers that cannot be verified, and flags from countries with no recognised registry, as red flags².
Compare the flag with the MMSI country code. A mismatch is one of OFAC's warning signs².
Watch for recent flag changes. Shadow fleet ships change registration often⁵.
Treat look-alike domains with care. Sharma's SDN entry lists ema.org.sz and epnicaragua.org among his websites¹.

What this means for procurement teams

Paperwork that looks like a flag certificate is now a live sanctions exposure for anyone who books, charters or insures tonnage. OFAC's alert says insurers, banks and other service providers to falsely flagged vessels can themselves be penalised².

The danger sits in three places: payment, cover and cargo claims. OFAC has told banks and insurers to apply more due diligence and to watch for unverifiable registration documents, unknown flags, and a mismatch between a ship's flag and its MMSI country code². Treasury also says falsely flagged vessels may lack valid insurance cover², which matters when a claim lands on cargo booked in good faith.

Flag states inspect and certify their ships⁵. A ship registered with an unauthorised registry has no authority behind its certificates. That is checkable before a fixture, not after.

Actions worth taking now: add flag and IMO verification to the fixture and booking checklist for tonnage you do not already know; ask for the IMO number, which stays with the hull whatever the name or flag⁶; verify registration with the flag state rather than a registry website⁵; and write a sanctions representation and a substitution clause into charter and booking terms, so a carrier cannot swap in tonnage you have not screened. Keep a backup for any route where the named entities or their vessels appear in your chain¹.

Sources

1.Office of Foreign Assets Control | U.S. Department of the Treasury, Iran-related Designations; Updates to Certain Iran-related Listings; Publication of Iran-related OFAC Alert; Issuance of Amended Venezuela-related General License and Frequently Asked Question. Accessed 5 November 2026.
2.gCaptain, U.S. Targets Fraudulent Ship Registries Used by Iran’s Shadow Fleet, 5 November 2026. Accessed 5 November 2026.
3.The Economic Times, US slaps sanctions on Indian, Turkish firms and people for aiding Iran, 4 November 2026. Accessed 5 November 2026.
4.The Maritime Executive, US Sanctions False-Flag Network Run from India Used for Iranian Shipping, 5 November 2026. Accessed 5 November 2026.
5.Wikipedia, Flag state (Wikipedia), 10 September 2026. Accessed 5 November 2026.
6.Wikipedia, IMO number (Wikipedia), 23 July 2026. Accessed 5 November 2026.

How this story was made: the Procupy News Desk researched and wrote it with AI tools, working only from the sources listed above. Automated checks confirmed that every number and quote appears in those sources, and a separate AI fact-check compared the story with them before publication. Read our editorial policy. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.