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Tankers to be removed from Cook Islands registry

The two tankers 'Ermis' and 'Laka' are expected to be removed from the Cook Islands ship registry this week after allegations surfaced the vessels were transporting Iranian crude oil in defiance of US sanctions, while concealing their movements. The ships were alleged to have been involved in shipping Iranian crude by a group called United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) – an American group led by politicians and intelligence officials whose stated goal is to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. UANI provided satellite imagery on the vessel’s movements in October 2020 to Maritime Cook Islands (MCI), which operates the country’s ship registry. An investigation into the allegations was thwarted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which prevented inspectors from boarding the vessels and examining their log books and location tracking devices. Despite not being able to carry out an investigation, the removal of the tankers from the registry was justified as they had turned off their AIS at some point during their operations. The ships also lacked association with a classification society.