NO RESTRICTION ON CARGO DISCHARGE FOR VESSELS COMPLYING WITH INDIAN RULES: GOVT

There is no restriction on discharging of cargo of any particular country at Indian ports including Iran if the vessel containing this cargo complies with the rules of Indian port authorities but vessels sanctioned by US or UK authorities indulge in forgery of documents several times, the shipping ministry has said.

- SHIKHA SALARIA

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Asked about the papers shared by the US with India along with a list of 14 vessels connected to the shadow fleet of the son of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khameini’s top advisor Ali Shamkhani and the alleged “illicit activities of his network” that visited Indian ports in 2025, the Shipping ministry says that details of such vessels are shared with the port authorities concerned who verify the documents of these vessels on their arrival at ports and decide whether to give them entry or not.

The Sunday Guardian had reported that sharing the “non-papers,” the US had asked India to review the history of vessels entering Indian ports for indications of extensive Automated Identification System (AIS) gaps or AIS transmissions in or near Iran and had also requested India to notify port authorities in a timely manner about these vessels, refuse reberthing, inspect the vessels, verify cargo origins and destinations and monitor flag restrictions.

Shipping ministry officials say that in case the port authorities find that the vessels don’t have the relevant documents or have forged documents, they can deny entry to such vessels.

“As far as rules are concerned, there is no restriction on the discharge of cargo from any particular country including Iran. There is a price cap regarding the Russian cargoes. If any vessel arriving at Indian ports has relevant documents, it is allowed to discharge cargo/oil,” AK Azad, nautical advisor-cum-additional director general (nautical) at the Directorate General of Shipping told TDG.

Asked about the US sharing the documents about the 14 vessels associated with the Hossein Shamkhani network, Azad further said that any such direction is shared with the respective ports in India but such vessels are not disallowed to enter Indian ports in case they fulfil all norms associated with Indian ports.