Iranian ships still flying Tanzania flag

{{Tanzania could find itself in an awkward diplomatic position again following revelations that Iran is now using the country’s national identity to evade sanctions imposed on its oil tankers.}}

Shipping intelligence data indicate that Iranian vessels and other ships blacklisted by the US are using signals assigned to Tanzania. Under this cover, the tankers no longer fly the Tanzanian flag.

But the ploy has been exposed by their continued use of the signal that identifies Tanzania in international shipping traffic.

“They (Iranian ships) now appear as flag “unknown”, but they have continued to identify themselves in shipping traffic as flagged to Tanzania,” noted Ms Claudia Rosett of the US-based Foundation for Defence of Democracies in an article published in Forbes magazine last week.

“The tell-tale sign is a nine-digit number known as a Maritime Mobile Service Identity number, or MMSI, part of the on-board signalling system that transmits the registered identity of a ship as well as its location.

The MMSI number is unique for each vessel, but the initial three digits identify the ship’s flag state (677 for Tanzania),” explained the ship-tracking data analyst.

{NMG}