Tag: flag states

The maritime intelligence consultancies TM Tracking and I.R. Consilium published a report examining both how foreign fishing operators are accessing and exploiting African flag registries for their fishing vessels in pursuit of legal impunity, and how weaknesses in African flagging regimes attract this exploitation.

According to the IMO, that there have been several cases in the past, related to the fraudulent use of a country's flag, and/or to the fraudulent operation of a registry without the purported flag country's permission or knowledge.

Again in 2021, the number of ships flying the Danish flag set a record. In fact, 779 ships are flying the Danish flag, an increase of 2.6%.

All Panamanian-flagged vessels transiting or visiting Panamanian ports, prior to their arrival to the US, must conduct a Flag Annual Safety Inspection (ASI) as soon as they arrive at any port or terminal in Panama, the Maritime Authority announced.

In 2020, US Coast Guard Marine Inspectors conducted 18,414 inspections on US-flagged vessels and identified 27,087 deficiencies, resulting in 63 Flag State detentions, according to the USCG 2020 Flag State Control Domestic Annual Report.

Panama Maritime Authority has decided that is compulsory that all Panamanian flag vessels with Priority 1 in Paris MoU Inspection and Selection Scheme, that arrive at any port in Italy, to Conduct a Flag annual safety inspection (ASI) as soon as they arrive.

UK MCA shared guidance on the arrangements in place for inspection for compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (“MLC”). Inspection for MLC compliance is not required for vessels operating exclusively on domestic voyages and within 60 miles of a UK safe haven. 

The ILO has issued a second revised edition of Guidelines for flag State inspections under MLC, 2006, as amended. The guidelines are intended to assist flag State administrations to effectively implement their responsibilities with respect to the ship inspection and certification duties under the MLC.

ICS has published the latest Flag State Performance Table for 2020-2021 which finds that many of the largest flag states – including the Marshall Islands, Hong Kong (China), Singapore as well as the Bahamas and Cyprus– continue to perform to an exceptionally high standard, with traditional flags and open registers performing equally well.

Isle of Man Ship Registry became the first Flag State to launch a seafarer welfare app, named as "Crew Matters", as it has just gone live and is available to approximately 10.000 seafarers.