Last week, Japan started providing up to Yen 877.8 bill ($7.98 bill) shipping insurance cover for tankers carrying Iranian crude for fiscal year 2015-16 (April-March).
According to Platts, this move came amid uncertainty over Western sanctions against Iran.
The insurance cover for Iranian oil has reached a record level, up almost 15% from Yen 764.4 bill ($7.88 bill) in fiscal 2014-15, mainly due to a weaker yen against the dollar.
The Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Akihiro Ohta signed a contract last Wednesday with a Japanese shipowner to provide insurance to one of its VLCCs carrying Iranian oil, a ministry official said, Platts reported.
In order to get the government-funded shipping insurance scheme, Japanese shipowners need to sign contracts with the transport minister for every vessel the companies use to carry Iranian oil.
Japan introduced a supplementary insurance scheme in June 2012 to enable crude imports from Iran in the wake of a ban by the EU on P&I cover for tankers carrying Iranian oil.
Over January-February, Japan imported an average of 207,943 barrels per day of crude from Iran, down 22% from 234,390 barrels per day in same period of 2014, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Platts reported.
It was still not certain what the recent agreements between the P5+1 governments and Iran will mean for the shipping industry, most notably NITC, when this newsletter went to press.
However, Iran said the success of Iran and P5+1 to reach mutual understanding on solutions to move toward a final comprehensive nuclear agreement over Iran’s nuclear energy program has already paved the way for Iranian oil tankers to resume visits to European ports.
Ali Akbar Safaie, NITC’s managing director, said on Sunday that his company had started to negotiate with European countries over the return of Iranian tankers to their ports.
However, he emphasised, the resumption of visits by NITC tankers to Europe will only take place after Iran and P5+1 reach the final nuclear agreement and the sanctions on Iran are accordingly lifted, local newswires reported.
On Wednesday of this week, the European Union re-imposed sanctions on an Iranian bank and 32 Iranian shipping companies using new legal grounds.
The EU's second-highest court annulled an EU asset freeze on Bank Tejarat and 40 Iranian shipping companies in January, finding fault with the legal grounds given. The EU responded by re-listing Bank Tejarat and 32 of the Iranian shipping concerns.
Sanctions on Iran will only be lifted after a final agreement, which the P5+1 and Iran aim to sign by 30th June, according to newswires, quoting the EU.
In its reasons for restoring the asset freeze on Bank Tejarat, the EU reportedly said the bank "...provides significant support to the Government of Iran by offering financial resources and financing services for oil and gas development projects."
The shipping firms listed were allegedly owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which was previously sanctioned.
Tanker Operator Japan provides Iran oil cargo insurance
@Daneshmand @Serpentine @Abii
According to Platts, this move came amid uncertainty over Western sanctions against Iran.
The insurance cover for Iranian oil has reached a record level, up almost 15% from Yen 764.4 bill ($7.88 bill) in fiscal 2014-15, mainly due to a weaker yen against the dollar.
The Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Akihiro Ohta signed a contract last Wednesday with a Japanese shipowner to provide insurance to one of its VLCCs carrying Iranian oil, a ministry official said, Platts reported.
In order to get the government-funded shipping insurance scheme, Japanese shipowners need to sign contracts with the transport minister for every vessel the companies use to carry Iranian oil.
Japan introduced a supplementary insurance scheme in June 2012 to enable crude imports from Iran in the wake of a ban by the EU on P&I cover for tankers carrying Iranian oil.
Over January-February, Japan imported an average of 207,943 barrels per day of crude from Iran, down 22% from 234,390 barrels per day in same period of 2014, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Platts reported.
It was still not certain what the recent agreements between the P5+1 governments and Iran will mean for the shipping industry, most notably NITC, when this newsletter went to press.
However, Iran said the success of Iran and P5+1 to reach mutual understanding on solutions to move toward a final comprehensive nuclear agreement over Iran’s nuclear energy program has already paved the way for Iranian oil tankers to resume visits to European ports.
Ali Akbar Safaie, NITC’s managing director, said on Sunday that his company had started to negotiate with European countries over the return of Iranian tankers to their ports.
However, he emphasised, the resumption of visits by NITC tankers to Europe will only take place after Iran and P5+1 reach the final nuclear agreement and the sanctions on Iran are accordingly lifted, local newswires reported.
On Wednesday of this week, the European Union re-imposed sanctions on an Iranian bank and 32 Iranian shipping companies using new legal grounds.
The EU's second-highest court annulled an EU asset freeze on Bank Tejarat and 40 Iranian shipping companies in January, finding fault with the legal grounds given. The EU responded by re-listing Bank Tejarat and 32 of the Iranian shipping concerns.
Sanctions on Iran will only be lifted after a final agreement, which the P5+1 and Iran aim to sign by 30th June, according to newswires, quoting the EU.
In its reasons for restoring the asset freeze on Bank Tejarat, the EU reportedly said the bank "...provides significant support to the Government of Iran by offering financial resources and financing services for oil and gas development projects."
The shipping firms listed were allegedly owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which was previously sanctioned.
Tanker Operator Japan provides Iran oil cargo insurance
@Daneshmand @Serpentine @Abii
