NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On Wednesday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on the German engineering and automotive firm MAN SE (MAN) to immediately end its business in Iran. MAN is a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.
UANI has learned that MAN is directly involved in the construction of new vessels for the Iranian regime. Specifically, MAN is cooperating with the Persian Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation, a regime-owned entity deeply involved in Iran’s petrochemical and shipbuilding industries.
UANI is also highly concerned by MAN Diesel & Turbo’s involvement in the construction of 12 new Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) for Iran, currently occurring in Chinese shipyards.
Additionally, a number of Iranian oil tankers are fitted with MAN engines, and MAN also sells vehicles to Iran through MAN Truck & Bus. MAN lists six Iranian dealers for its commercial vehicles.
UANI finds MAN’s work with Iran highly irresponsible at a time when the U.S. and EU are trying to isolate the regime and are specifically targeting its shipping industry. As MAN aids the Iranian regime, it has received over $44 million in U.S. Government contracts since 2000. UANI is calling on MAN to completely end all business related to Iran.
In a letter to MAN SE CEO Georg Pachta-Reyhofen, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, wrote:
… UANI understands that MAN is directly cooperating with IRISL on the construction of at least five new vessels for the Iranian regime. The Persian Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation (“PGSC”) is currently constructing two chemical tankers and three container ships for the NITC, IRISL and Hafiz Darya Shipping Co. (“HDS”), an IRISL front company. The vessels include the “Iran Fahim” (IMO: 9286140), “Iran Falagh” (IMO: 9286152), “Iran Kashan” (IMO: 9270696), “Sharhr E Kord” (IMO: 9270684), and “Shiba” (IMO: 9270646). …
MAN’s Iranian partner in the construction of these vessels, PGSC (aka Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex Co, “ISOICO”), is a regime-owned entity heavily involved in Iran’s petrochemical and shipbuilding industries MAN Diesel & Turbo also appears to have partnered with the Iran Heavy Diesel Engine Manufacturing Company (“DESA”), a regime-controlled corporation that provides services to such sanctioned entities as the Iran Marine Industrial Company (“SADRA”) and the National Iranian Drilling Company (“NIDC”). As you know, both ISOICO and DESA are subsidiaries of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (“IDRO”), an arm of the Iranian regime controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”) and blacklisted by the U.S. and EU for its activities in a wide range of nuclear and military industries. In light of their connections to IDRO, MAN’s apparent partnerships with ISOICO and DESA are clearly unacceptable.
Moreover, MAN Diesel & Turbo appears to be involved in the construction of 12 new Very Large Crude Carriers (“VLCCs”) for the NITC. The vessels, which are being built in shipyards owned by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (“CSIC”) and the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (“CSSC”), will expand the NITC’s carriage and storage capacity by up to 24 million barrels. Specifically, MAN Diesel & Turbo appears to be supplying CSIC and CSSC with parts and technology to build low and medium-speed marine diesel engines, including the CMD-MAN B&W 7K90MC-C, CMD MAN B&W 8K98MC and CMD-MAN B&W 6S70MC models. Such marine diesel engines are necessary to power vessels like Iran’s new VLCCs.
… multiple sources, including MAN publications, state that a number of Iranian oil tankers are fitted with MAN Diesel & Turbo SE (“MAN Diesel & Turbo”) engines. Specifically, the Iranian tankers “Camellia” and “Majestic” are reportedly fitted with MAN B&W 6S70MC6 21 and 6S90MCC22 engines, respectively. The Iranian tanker “Justice”, formerly the “Dadgar”, is also fitted with a MAN Diesel engine, model 6S90MC-C19.
UANI has highlighted the shipping industry as an area where the international community can further pressure Iran. In a May 17, 2012 Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, six UANI board members wrote that "the world must deny Iran's access to international shipping, a move that would severely affect the regime given its dependence on global trade and seaborne crude oil exports."
All thirteen firms of the global-leading International Association of Classification Societies have stopped certifying Iranian vessels following UANI’s campaign, including Bureau Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd, the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, Korean Register of Shipping, China Classification Society, and ClassNK. UANI has also announced that Barbados, Hong Kong, Moldova and Mongolia have stopped their reflagging of Iranian vessels.
UANI has requested a response from MAN by January 17, 2013.
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to read UANI’s full letter to MAN.
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to send a message to MAN.
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to learn more about UANI's Shipping Campaign.
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to learn more about UANI’s Germany Campaign.