FILE PHOTO: A LPG tanker ship sails through the Panama Canal after Panama's Maritime Authority said on Friday it will reinforce controls for ship-to-ship operations by Panama-flagged vessels, following an increase in the use of "dark-fleet" tankers to skirt sanctions or evade environmental requirements, in Gamboa, Panama, May 23, 2025. REUTERS/Enea Lebrun/File Photo
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) -Panama's Maritime Authority has removed from its registry more than 650 vessels since 2019 as part of an effort to fulfill U.S. sanctions and enforce stricter rules for the ships it flags, it said on Monday.
A total of 214 vessels have been withdrawn from Panama's registry, among the world's largest with more than 8,500 ships, since it began implementing measures last year allowing it to act faster to help enforce sanctions, the authority added.
