Four Iranian cargo vessels to quit Hong Kong register

Iranian owners of four dry cargo ships are taking steps to deregister the vessels in Hong Kong just days after the Marine Department sent a letter to owners of 19 Iranian ships asking them to register their vessels elsewhere.

Wong Sai-fat, the general manager of the Marine Department's shipping register, said the department had been told four owners had given instructions that they were leaving the Hong Kong shipping register.

The department gave the shipowners 90 days' notice to find an alternative flag state in a letter on November 9.

The owners who were sent the letters included Eternal Expert, which is the registered owner of the Alias, a 43,309 deadweight tonne handysize dry cargo ship.

Eternal Expert operates through Tehran-based Rahbaran Omid Darya Ship Management, which also manages 15 other Hong Kong-flagged ships. All are handysize vessels, specialising in carrying minor bulk cargoes such as fertilisers, ores and timber, and were built between 1984 and 1986.

The company and several key executives were the subject of tough restrictions imposed by the United States Treasury Department and European Union in October and December last year as part of wider sanctions against Iran.