Subsidiary of Bulk Carrier Settles Allegations of Sanctions Violations

By Mengqi Sun

The operating arm of a Nasdaq-listed bulk carrier has agreed to settle allegations that it violated U.S. sanctions on Myanmar, the U.S. Treasury Department said Monday.

Eagle Shipping International (USA) LLC, a subsidiary of Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc., a bulk carrier of commodities, will pay about $1.13 million to settle allegations that it provided transportation services from Myanmar to Singapore between 2011 and 2014 for Myawaddy Trading Ltd., a Myanmar-based company that was blacklisted by the U.S. at the time, according to the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces U.S. sanctions.

The U.S. lifted sanctions on Myanmar and removed Myawaddy from its blacklist in October 2016. But individuals or entities can still be found to have violated the sanctions if the alleged misconduct happened before the sanctions were lifted, the Treasury says.

"We are pleased to have successfully resolved this matter and that the company can put this legacy issue behind it," Gary Vogel, chief executive officer of Eagle Bulk Shipping, said in an email. "Eagle Bulk is committed to observing all regulations -- those set forth by OFAC and otherwise -- as well as upholding the highest compliance and corporate governance standards."

Eagle Bulk Shipping, which has its headquarters in Stamford, Conn., went through a chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2014 and reorganized with a new senior management team, according to the company. OFAC said the new management team disclosed the potential violations to the agency after a review of the company's past compliance with U.S. sanctions.

OFAC said the company continued to transport sand supplied by Myawaddy, which was under U.S. sanctions at the time, from Myanmar to Singapore despite a denial of its license application and a lack of authorization from OFAC to engage in such activities.

Write to Mengqi Sun at mengqi.sun@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 27, 2020 18:22 ET (23:22 GMT)

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