MSC ceases Iran bookings amid looming sanctions

Second-largest container carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. will continue to transport “certain legally acceptable cargoes” like food during the wind-down period.    Mediterranean Shipping Co. has ceased all bookings to and from Iran due to the United States’ likely withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
   President Donald Trump last week said the U.S. would withdraw from the agreement and reimpose all nuclear-related sanctions that had been lifted under the agreement after a final wind-down period for existing contracts expires Nov. 4.
   The Treasury and State departments also will establish a 90-day and a 180-day wind-down period for activities involving Iran that “were consistent with U.S. sanctions relief provided for under the JCPOA.”
   Ocean carriers had essentially stopped doing business in Iran entirely due to economic sanctions until the 2015 signing of the JCPOA by the U.S., European Union, Germany and the four other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom.
   MSC said that although it has ceased accepting bookings in and out of Iran, the firm will continue to transport “certain legally acceptable cargoes” like food during the wind-down period.
   “The U.S. government has outlined a wind-down period in the coming months and we will do our utmost to collaborate with you to conclude this period with the minimum disruption to your business and to avoid any unnecessary inconvenience,” the company said.
   The second-largest container carrier worldwide, MSC participates on 20 services connecting the Middle East with other regions around the world, none of which offer direct calls to Iranian ports, according to ocean carrier schedule database BlueWater Reporting.