The United States on Wednesday sanctioned an India-based couple whose network, according to Guyana’s maritime authorities, falsely registered ships under this country’s flag.
The US Treasury said Suniel Kumar Sharma and his wife, Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, supplied false flags and maritime certificates to vessels carrying Iranian oil.
Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) welcomed the sanctions yesterday.
The US Treasury said the couple operated from Chandigarh, India, and traced their activities to at least 2014, when they sought to impersonate Dominica’s flagging authority. It said the network used websites to offer registration, vessel classification and seafarer certification in the names of jurisdictions that had not authorised those services. Treasury said the documents helped vessels carrying Iranian petroleum, including vessels operating on behalf of Iran’s military and its proxies, evade restrictions.
Among the vessels Treasury cited was the Majestic X, formerly the Phonix, which US forces seized on April 22, 2026. Treasury said the tanker was carrying Iranian oil and using a false Guyana flag when it was boarded. MARAD said at the time that it had no record of the vessel in Guyana’s ship registry.
Treasury identified Sharma as managing director of Oceaniek Technologies India and said he used the company to establish registries purporting to represent Aruba, Nicaragua and Sint Maarten. It said those registries supplied false flags to sanctioned vessels carrying Iranian petroleum products, including the Lattafa, Binary Star and Vera. Treasury also said a Singapore-based registry Sharma established in 2023 continued to issue flags in Eswatini’s name after that country’s authorities publicly disavowed it. It cited the sanctioned tanker Ping Shunas as one recipient.
Treasury said Shahid took on management of the couple’s businesses, at least on paper, as Sharma’s activities came under greater scrutiny. Those businesses ranged from financial services to media streaming. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Sharma under Executive Order 13902 for operating in Iran’s petroleum sector and Shahid for materially supporting him.
OFAC also designated Oceaniek Technologies India over its ties to Sharma and eight entities over their ties to Shahid. The latter include the Eswatini Maritime Affairs and International Ship Registry, Aryavart Ship Management, Precept Trends, Polynesia Maritime, Alexarya Finserv, Alexarya Media and Entertainment, Viharaboating and the Aryavart Maritime and Educational Trust. Ashwani Kumar Dhiman and Ishwinder Singh were designated for acting or purporting to act on behalf of Aryavart Ship Management.
The measures block the designated parties’ property and interests in property in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons. They also apply to entities owned 50 per cent or more, directly or indirectly, by one or more blocked persons. OFAC issued a separate alert to the shipping industry on the risks of dealing with falsely flagged vessels. Treasury said such vessels can evade safety and environmental rules and operate without valid protection and indemnity insurance.
Guyana severed ties in 2021
Stabroek News reported in February 2022 that Sharma, identified locally as Captain Suniel Kumar, headed Nautilus Register, a subsidiary of Aryavart Corporation. It had acted as a technical and administrative representative of the Guyana Ships Registry under the name International Maritime Safety Agency for Guyana (IMSAG). MARAD said it severed ties with the entity on August 13, 2021. The government later said it halted the arrangement after discovering what it described as fraudulent representations and that the Guyana Police Force was working with Interpol.
The dispute drew renewed attention in January 2022 after Senegalese Customs detained the Eolika, which purported to carry Guyana registration. MARAD said it understood that arms and ammunition had been found aboard. It said the vessel did not appear in Guyana’s registry and that it believed IMSAG had issued the documents. Treasury said the company formerly known as IMSAG was later renamed the Laos Ship Registry and Maritime Safety Administration.
Sharma told the Financial Times in 2025 that he had helped set up registries for six countries, including Guyana, and denied that they were fraudulent. He said he had received official approval for the projects and stopped registering vessels under Guyana’s flag in 2023.
Kiskadee Watch reported in July that Public Utilities and Aviation Minister Deodat Indar said his ministry was working with local and international law enforcement agencies to hold Sharma to account. Indar cited the interception of the Skipper off Venezuela in December 2025 and the seizure of the Majestic X in April 2026 as examples of enforcement involving vessels falsely using Guyana’s flag.
MARAD said yesterday that Guyana had also raised the issue at the Caribbean Shipping Association’s annual general meeting.
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