NEWS DETAILS

Date: 21/01/2025

Over 220 ships falsely flagged raising security concerns: Report

According to a report submitted by the UK to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), over 220 ships are now falsely flagged, compared to 100 vessels two years ago, raising serious concerns about maritime safety, security and environmental protection. Fraudsters are exploiting underfunded maritime authorities and geopolitical instability to keep substandard and sanctioned vessels in operation. These vessels often use fake documents to claim they are registered with legitimate flag states or are linked to fictitious registries that fail to verify ships and their owners properly. Oil tankers and cargo ships make up the majority of falsely flagged vessels. Many have been involved in illegal activities such as sanctions evasion, high-risk ship-to-ship transfers and switching off their Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) to avoid detection. The issue has worsened due to geopolitical tensions, which have forced shipowners to switch flags to evade sanctions, as per a report.
 
Source: Exim News Service: London, Jan. 20