The US praised Bermuda’s Government for taking quick action when it discovered local companies were insuring Iranian shippers suspected of acquiring nuclear weapons related materials.Yesterday evening three more classified internal US State Department cable that referred to the Island were released by whistle blowing website Wikileaks. This time the cables focused on Bermuda’s shipping industry.The first cable came from the US Embassy in Rome and was written on December 17, 2008. It was classified secret by Economic Minister Counselor Tom Delare and titled ‘Moving Forward on Coordinated National Measures’.In it a group of ten “likeminded” countries discussed measures to prevent Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons capabilities.At that meeting the British representative said they would be speaking with the UK protection and indemnity clubs, a form of marine insurance, as well as the 13 worldwide clubs about the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL).According to the cables IRISL was Iran’s shipping line of choice for transporting nuclear-related items.The cable states: “The UK stated that they would consider ordering British P and I clubs to exclude IRISL vessels, but that they would first need to attempt to share derogatory information on IRISL with the British P & I clubs and would also at least need to make some efforts to minimize the chances that the IRISL vessels could join P and I clubs in other jurisdictions.”The cable noted: “The UK also indicated that it had spoken with the Bermudian prime minister [Premier Ewart Brown] since one of the P&I clubs is headquartered in Bermuda.“The prime minister [Dr Brown] asked for additional information on the proliferation activities of IRISL. Acting A/S McNerney noted that the US had also demarched Bermuda.”The UK went on to ban its companies from doing business with IRISL in October 2009.An unclassified cable from the US Secretary of State office on February 23, 2010 states: “As a result of the UK action, IRISL lost access to UK-based protection and indemnity clubs, from which it had obtained liability insurance coverage.“IRISL subsequently obtained substandard insurance from the Bermuda-based South of England Protection and Indemnity Association (SEPIA).”According to the US State Department SEPIA is registered in Hamilton but managed by a Lichtenstein company that subcontracts its day-to-day activities to offices in Zurich and Brighton, UK.The company is considered in the maritime industry as the “insurer of last resort for older and less seaworthy ships rejected by the International Group and other top- tier fixed premium P and I insurers” the cable states.“The Government of Bermuda quickly took action to mirror that of the UK and on January 15, 2010, Bermuda banned its firms from doing business with IRISL, and Bank Mellat,” it states. “As a result, SEPIA was required to cease the provision of insurance coverage for IRISL vessels. Bermuda’s decision also forced Gard of Norway, the world’s second largest P&I club, to withdraw its long-standing hull coverage of IRISL ships.“Bermuda’s ban provides us with another opportunity to highlight the risks of doing business with IRISL and the international community’s efforts to protect themselves from those risks, and encourage all states to take similar decisive action to prevent their firms and territories from being used by IRISL for proliferation-related purposes.”In August last year Economy Minister Kim Wilson added other sanctions for Iranian companies.At the time she said: “These measures once again demonstrate the commitment of the Government of Bermuda to strengthening the anti-money laundering/anti-terrorist financing regime of Bermuda and to ensuring that Bermuda continues to play an important role in the global fight against money laundering, proliferation financing and the financing of terrorism.”The latest batch brought the number of cables referencing Bermuda to five.In total there are 68 cables where Bermuda is mentioned. Twenty-seven of those came from the US Consulate in Bermuda.Useful websites: http://mirror.wikileaks.info, http://www.irisl.net.