A Reuters investigation has revealed that a little-known New Zealand-based insurer, Maritime Mutual, played a major role in keeping global shipments of sanctioned Iranian and Russian oil moving. The company, led by 75-year-old Briton Paul Rankin and his family, provided insurance coverage to hundreds of tankers operating in the so-called “shadow fleet” vessels that conceal their identities and cargoes to evade Western sanctions.
Authorities in New Zealand, along with partners in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, are now investigating whether Maritime Mutual violated sanctions and anti–money laundering laws. Police raided the company’s offices in October, seizing records related to possible breaches of Russian sanctions.
Why It Matters:
The revelations expose how a small firm from a U.S.-aligned country became a critical link in sanction-busting trade networks worth tens of billions of dollars. Despite Western efforts to choke off revenue sources for Iran and Russia, the report shows that sanctioned oil continued to reach markets in China, India, and Malaysia, often under the protection of Western reinsurance giants. The case raises uncomfortable questions about enforcement gaps, regulatory loopholes, and the effectiveness of global sanctions regimes.
- Maritime Mutual (MMIA): The insurer at the center of the scandal, accused of indirectly supporting sanctioned oil trades.
- Paul Rankin and family: Founders and managers of Maritime Mutual, facing scrutiny over compliance failures.
- Reinsurers (Lloyd’s, Munich Re, Hannover Re, MS Amlin, Atrium): Major global firms allegedly backing Maritime Mutual’s risk pool.
- Governments of New Zealand, U.S., U.K., and Australia: Investigating possible sanctions violations.
- Iran and Russia: Beneficiaries of the loopholes enabling continued crude exports despite Western restrictions.
What’s Next:
New Zealand’s financial and foreign affairs agencies are coordinating with international partners to determine whether Maritime Mutual breached sanctions laws or misrepresented its regulatory status. The company has since announced it will stop insuring ships in the “shadow fleet” or those carrying Russian oil. Still, investigators are examining its historical role in facilitating global oil trades worth over $35 billion from Iran and Russia since 2018.
The probe could have wide-reaching implications for the global insurance industry, testing how far regulators will go to close the backdoors that keep sanctioned oil and money flowing.
With information from Reuters.
