THE world's fourth smallest country, Tuvalu with a population of 10,500, has deregistered all Iranian-linked vessels to comply with UN and US sanctions, the Tuvaluan government announced.

In its latest press release issued earlier this week, the British Commonwealth country said that there are no longer any National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) tankers and/or Iranian-linked vessels registered under the Tuvaluan flag.

The registrar of the Tuvalu Ship Registry, Uale Sinapati, explained that during the time of registration, the registry understood that NITC and their vessels were not sanctioned by the United Nations or the United States and thus agreed to register the NITC tankers on condition that all the tankers maintain their class and statutory certification by members of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) and be fully compliant with IMO conventions.

However, NITC and their vessels, were included in the US OFAC list of July 12 and the Tuvalu Ship Registry shortly after received official instructions from the Government of Tuvalu to de-flag NITC tankers.

"Understanding the importance of complying with US sanctions, the Tuvalu Ship Registry formally declares that the de-registration process is complete and there is not a single NITC vessel or Iranian-linked vessel registered under Tuvalu as of September 22," Mr Sinapati said in a letter to all parties concerned.