‘Terror-tagged’ ships sneak into Indian scrapyards

Mumbai – In a development with serious national security implications, several foreign vessels carrying a global ‘terror tag’ have managed to enter Indian waters and dock at domestic ports, bypassing mandatory maritime safety and regulatory checks.

These ships, blacklisted by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), are allegedly being facilitated by unscrupulous entities and complicit officials — a situation that could further strain Indo-US ties, experts caution.

According to official sources, alarm bells rang in recent months when approximately a dozen OFAC-sanctioned vessels quietly made their way to Indian shores.

Most of these ships, flagged under foreign nations and some with untraceable origins, docked at Gujarat’s Alang Port—the world’s largest ship-breaking yard—triggering widespread concerns.

Among the vessels identified are: Bluefins (Tanzania), GAMA II (Cameroon Isles flag), Inda (origin unspecified), Jasmine (Iran), Nolan (origin unknown), Nirvana (origin unclear), Seas and Wave (both flying the Comoros Isles flag), and others.

Maritime insiders warn that globally, hundreds of vessels operate under sanctions due to their shady links, illicit or suspicious activities. Many such vessels are now finding their final destination at Alang Port for dismantling, under the radar of authorities.

Shady deals via Shell Cos

The ships are typically offloaded through complex ownership structures. Officials revealed that these vessels are often sold through shell companies — sometimes registered in small island nations or tax havens — managed by fly-by-night operators who disappear after completing the deals.

Shockingly, these vessels are sold to Indian ship-breaking firms via simple Memorandums of Agreement (MoAs), with minimal documentation.

Copies viewed by this newspaper reveal that while the MoAs bear signatures of buyers and sellers, they omit crucial details such as full names, company information, contact details, bank accounts, and nationalities — raising red flags.

“These ships are bought at throwaway prices — often through cash transactions — completely bypassing banking norms and regulatory scrutiny,” a senior official told ‘The Perfect Voice’, preferring anonymity.

Tinkering with IMO Nos.

In an effort to avoid detection, the vessels’ IMO (International Maritime Organization) numbers — meant to uniquely identify ships — are reportedly being altered.

This tampering allows the tainted vessels to slip through regulatory frameworks and gain clearance from local authorities, allegedly with the support of complicit officials from departments like Customs, the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), and the GST administration.

Each scrap ship transaction reportedly ranges between Rs.5–10 crore, but industry players claim that the unscrupulous breakers make 10-20 fold profits, all off the books — irking legitimate ship recyclers operating under standard norms in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

More disturbing are security concerns that such ships may be carrying undeclared hazardous cargo, including arms, explosives, or narcotics.

If such apprehensions are true, it could escalate to an international row, if OFAC is in the dark of the ships’ scrapping in Indian yards — and possibly attract sanctions against the local maritime authorities.

Officials claim that at least a dozen more OFAC-listed vessels are currently en route to Alang Port and Sosiya Port, and Maritime experts warn that could become another irritant in already-strained Indo-US relations under President Donald Trump.

Need for high-level inquiry

As concerns grow, various stakeholders — including law-abiding ship-breakers, port officials, and maritime regulators — call for a comprehensive high-level probe into the matter, the need to pinpoint and punish those responsible for the entry and dismantling of OFAC-sanctioned vessels on Indian ports.

USA’s OFAC: Bark worse than the bite?

The OFAC is the financial intelligence & enforcement agency in the US Department of Treasury which imposes and enforces sanctions that are valid globally.

They include Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs), comprising individuals or entities OFAC has found to be involved in/or pose a significant risk of committing terror acts, or those who support or are associated with globally dubbed extremists.

One of OFAC’s activities is to identify, monitor, and slap sanctions on SDGTs who pose a risk to US and international security through its intel rings in collaboration with various foreign agencies.

US citizens or any other non-US nationals who enter into prohibited activities with persons/entities (Specially Designated Nationals – SDNs) figuring on the SDGT list are liable for possible civil-criminal penalties.