Singaporean Cargo Inspection Company Shuttered by U.S. Sanctions

 

After the U.S. Treasury sanctioned a Singapore-based cargo inspection company last month, the firm has laid off most of its staff and is winding down operations, according to local media. 

On May 13, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) blacklisted Chinese-owned inspection company CCIC Singapore for allegedly facilitating Iranian oil shipping. According to the Treasury, CCIC Singapore provided the cargo inspection services for a ship-to-ship transfer of about two million barrels of Iranian crude from the sanctioned VLCC Siri (ex name Anthea). In addition, the firm allegedly provided the same services for the sanctioned tanker Hecate, and may have provided fake papers that falsely certified the oil cargo as "Malaysian" - a common fiction for Iranian-origin crude headed for the Chinese market. The Treasury asserted that Iranian government front company Sepehr Energy "consistently relied" on CCIC Singapore for inspections of Iranian crude cargoes. 

U.S. sanctions are a powerful deterrent for most potential customers, and can have drastic effects on a business. An OFAC designation also typically freezes some or all bank accounts belonging to the affected firm, with immediate effects on operations. Three former employees of CCIC Singapore told CNA that the company laid off about 300 people effective June 1, and that layoff notices had referenced a "pending liquidation." 

Salary payments for the month of May were also delayed because of frozen bank accounts, they said. Dismissal notices warned that payouts would occur only after the firm's liquidation was completed, likely in mid-2026. 

The firm confirmed to CNA that the impact of sanctions was greater than expected, and it said that it has been forced to cease operations in Singapore. "This decision was extremely challenging for the management team, but it is a rational choice that had to be made under the current circumstances," the company told CNA in a statement.