Flagging issues addressed

New guidelines announced

Responding to rising number of ships flying false flags with nearly 40 countries reporting cases of fraudulent use by criminal groups, the International Maritime Organisation’s Legal Committee this week took steps to improve transparency and due diligence in ship registration.

The Legal Committee noted that the number of ships flying a false flag had increased since the previous session in 2025, with 529 ships falsely flying the flag of a country in the past year – and has approved a set of guidelines to prevent fraudulent registrations and misuse of flags.  

The guidelines help close a key regulatory gap for the maritime industry, given there is currently no binding international framework to regulate the registration of ships.  

The newly approved Guidelines will assist new and existing flag State ship registries by providing practical measures to strengthen verification and due diligence, ensure accurate ownership records, and improve oversight of registration procedures

The Guidelines focus on: 

◼︎ Legislation governance and control on who can perform registration of ships 
◼︎ Procedures for quality assurance in ship registration  
◼︎ Due diligence on ownership and ship identification 
◼︎ Due diligence on ship identity and eligibility checks 
◼︎ Information sources and information sharing

Closing the 113th session of the Legal Committee held in London (13-17 April), IMO Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez described the new guidelines as a welcome step.

PHOTO: Source – International Maritime Organisation

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