U.S. Treasury Adds Shipmanager Aurum to Houthi Sanctions List

 

The U.S. Treasury has blacklisted 18 people, companies and ships for alleged ties to the Sa'id al-Jamal shipping network, the Iranian-backed oil smuggling organization that finances Yemen's Houthi terrorist group. It is the latest in a long series of actions against the covert trading network.

Al-Jamal is a Yemeni national who runs a web of front companies and vessels that smuggle sanctioned petroleum products and other commodities to buyers in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. He works with the sanctioned Turkish trader Abdi Nasir Ali Mahamud, whose business entities have fronted for al-Jamal’s activities, according to Treasury. Other network members include the UAE-based traders Abdo Abdullah Dael Ahmed and Konstantinos Stavridis, along with their respective trading firms, according to Treasury; both Dael and Stavridis were added to the U.S. blacklist on Thursday. 

"Despite pleas to negotiate an end to this devastating conflict, Houthi leaders continue to launch missile and unmanned aerial vehicle attacks against Yemen’s neighbors, killing innocent civilians," said Treasury counterterrorism official Brian E. Nelson. "Houthi leaders must cease their campaign of violence and negotiate in good faith to end the conflict." 

Treasury also sanctioned the UAE-based vessel operator Aurum Ship Management, which has allegedly generated millions of dollars in profit by managing ships connected to al-Jamal and Mahamud. These vessels include the Cameroon-flagged bulker Victoria 1 (ex names Light Moon, Three) and the previously-sanctioned Triple Success. 

Treasury appears to have misidentified Victoria 1's current name and flag state. Both were changed two years ago, according to the Equasis record for the vessel's IMO number (9109550). 

According to Treasury, Aurum's employees have also "bribed flagging authorities to ignore sanctions-evasion activities by ships in the al-Jamal network." The department did not specify which flagging authorities; Aurum's fleet operates under a variety of open-registry flags, notably Gabon.

In addition, Aurum has allegedly managed ships that transferred petroleum directly to Houthi-controlled ports in Yemen - not just to customers abroad. 

Treasury also blacklisted Aurum's managing director, Chiranjeev Kumar Singh, and the related company Peridot Shipping and Trading. 

Aurum has been linked to several vessel casualties. It managed the VLCC Zoya 1, which caught fire in 2020 and was declared a total loss. It also managed the bitumen carrier Reem 5, which flooded and sank off India in January 2020. It was a previous manager of the bitumen tanker Aashi, which grounded in 2023.