The Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Thursday (30 July) said a company and its 49-year-old male director will be charged in court on 31 July for their alleged involvement in providing flag registration services to a vessel that contravened United Nationals regulations. 

Investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department revealed that on 18 May 2022, the company provided flag registration services in respect of bulk carrier PETREL 8. 

The vessel had been designated by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on 3 October 2017, pursuant to Resolutions UN S/RES/2317 (2017) and UN S/RES/2375 (2017), for transporting prohibited items from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). 

“At the material time, it is alleged that the company director had reasonable grounds to believe that PETREL 8 was a UNSC-designated vessel involved in transporting prohibited items from the DPRK when the flag registration services were provided,” SPF said in a statement. 

The company will be charged with one count under Regulation 8D(d)(ii) of the United Nations (Sanctions – DPRK) Regulations 2010. The company director will be charged with one count under Regulation 8D(d)(ii) read with Regulation 13(a) of the same Regulations, for abetting the company to commit the offence.

The offence under the United Nations Act 2001 for contravening these Regulations carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and/or a fine of up to SGD 500,000 (USD 389,414) for an individual. In the case for a company, the offence carries a fine of up to SGD 1 million. 

The United Nations (Sanctions – DPRK) Regulations 2010 under the United Nations Act 2001 gives effect to sanctions imposed by the UNSC on the DPRK to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. 

This includes prohibitions against the provision of services for vessels where there are reasonable grounds to believe the vessels are or were involved in activities that support the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by the DPRK. Singapore takes its international obligations under UNSC Resolutions seriously and is committed to implementing them fully. The Police will not hesitate to take action against any individual or entity that breaches Singapore’s laws and regulations. 

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 31 July, 2026

Editor’s note [28 July 2026]: Updated with names of bunkering vessels.

The European Union (EU) on Thursday (23 July) adopted the 21st package of restrictive measures against Russia, targeting bunkering vessels for the first time. 

The EU is continuing to target the shadow fleet by extending the scope of the existing rules also to cover vessels supporting the shadow fleet, by providing bunkering and other services, and listing 41 more vessels on top of the 632 already sanctioned.

“The criteria for vessels listings are expanded to target for the first time ships that provide services to these vessels. Five bunkering vessels that have regularly refuelled already-designated tankers are also designated,” the EU said. 

Bunkering vessels listed under the EU’s 21st Sanctions Package

The package also introduced a notification obligation for the sales of LNG tankers and a possibility to introduce new restrictions on the sale of LNG tankers to Russian citizens and companies and introduces other contractual obligations to mitigate the risk of reselling to Russia or for use in Russia.

The measures in the package focus on the sectors with the greatest impact: energy; financial services, including crypto; trade; and the Russian military-industrial complex. 

Photo credit: Guillaume Périgois on Unsplash
Published: 27 July, 2026

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Friday (24 July) issued a general licence to extend the deadline for certain transactions involving Lukoil International until 12.01am on 22 August. 

The general licence allows companies to negotiate with Russian oil company Lukoil for the sale of Lukoil International GmbH (LIG) or any of LIG’s majority-owned subsidiaries.

“For purposes of this general license, the term ‘contingent contracts’ includes executory contracts, executory pro forma invoices, agreements in principle, executory offers capable of acceptance such as bids or proposals in response to public tenders, binding memoranda of understanding, or any other similar agreement,” the licence noted.

On 27 October, the Russian company announced its intention to sell its international assets following new sanctions imposed by the US. OFAC has since extended the deadline multiple times. 

According to its website, Lukoil also supplies marine fuels and lubricants to Russian sea and river ports, has a bunker fleet, and has a wide network of representative offices across the world. 

Manifold Times previously reported Lukoil signing an agreement with US investment company Carlyle on sale of Lukoil International GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of Lukoil which owns international assets of Lukoil Group. 

Related: Russian oil company Lukoil ink deal with Carlyle on sale of international assets
Related: US extends license allowing sale of Lukoil’s overseas assets until 28 February
Related: Russian oil company Lukoil to sell international assets following US sanctions

Photo credit: Artem Shuba on Unsplash
Published: 27 July, 2026