Over the past two years, the Panama Ship Registry has revoked the registration of more than 6.5 million gt of ships due to ties with Iran, North Korea, or other sanctions.

The Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) underscored that the register could expel the owners, shipowners, and the ship captain of a vessel when its name and reputation are damaged in announcing the continuation of a purging of substandard tonnage that began in July 2021.

"This Administration, in the period from July 2019 to date, has cancelled ex officio more than 6.5 million TRBs, according to the Panama Maritime Authority database, due to ships related to Iran and North Korea or that have been included in the list of international sanctions," PMA said in a statement.

"This purification program responds to a commitment from the current Administration to comply with the debt to clean up the fleet that was postponed during other periods," it added.

The register began a previously delayed operation in July 2021 to remove substandard tonnage from its records.

According to PMA, the register is currently working on an integrated review for the verification and control of the more than 8,500 vessels that make up the Panamanian fleet and the more than 318,000 remaining active seafarers on board these ships.

"Even so, from July 2019 to the end of May 2023, the Panama Ship Registry has added more than 29.6 million TRBs to its fleet, according to data from the international platform Clarksons Research," PMA said.