A new submission to IMO’s Legal Committee made by twenty one nations, presents measures to prevent unlawful practices associated with the fraudulent registration and fraudulent registries of ships.
The document provides a proposal to conduct a regulatory scoping exercise of conventions under the purview of the Legal Committee and other relevant instruments to further develop actions to prevent illegal operations in the maritime sector by the “dark fleet” or “shadow fleet”.
According to the submission, illegal and unregulated practices might distort the level playing field and expose the international maritime community to increased safety, security, environmental and insurance risks which, in the event of accidents, will have adverse consequences for innocent seafarers, and for the citizens and the environment of coastal States. Unfortunately, in recent months, several marine casualties illustrate the possible consequences of an accident involving ships failing to comply with regulations.
Meanwhile S&P Global finds that of the globally sanctioned fleet, over 220 are registered in Russia, 200 in Iran, and more than 150 in China. This top three is followed by ship registrations in North Korea, Barbados, Guyana (via fraudulent registrations), and Panama, which each have 30-60 sanctioned ships affiliated with their flags. Panama’s planned executive decree to investigate registrations is therefore very pertinent and other flag states are advised to follow suit.
Additionally, reports indicate that since March 2023, the number of ships wrongly flagged as fraudulent has more than doubled, reaching 223 vessels in the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS).
