Splash247: ICS flag table names and shames

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has published its latest annual flag state performance table, accessible here, giving the shipping industry a clear overview of which registers to avoid. 

The study provides an objective, data-driven assessment of performance based on criteria such as Port State Control statistics and ratification of International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions.

Flag states with no more than one potential negative indicator – out of the 19 criteria used by ICS – include the ten largest flag states by tonnage plus the five largest open registers.

Together, these flag states are responsible for about 70% of the world’s commercial fleet.

Thomas Kazakos, the ICS’s secretary-general, said: “ICS encourages shipowners and operators to use the table to examine whether a flag state has substance and to put pressure on their flag administrations to make any improvements that might be necessary, especially in relation to safety of life at sea, the protection of the marine environment, and the provision of decent working and living conditions for seafarers.”

Questionable ship registries have been making more headlines than ever before, with flag hopping at extreme levels and Western nations vowing to crack down on the shadow fleet.

Splash reported earlier this month that Palau’s government has moved to nationalise the Palau Open Ship Registry following sanctions imposed on the private company that had been operating the flag.

Nearly 300 tankers are flying false flags, according to data from Israeli maritime analysts firm Windward, despite an increasing crackdown on the practice in recent weeks. 

Recently, the West has started to crack down on shadow vessels – the US apprehending seven tankers linked to Venezuelan trades over the last seven weeks, while France boarded a Russian aframax last week, flying a false flag in the western Mediterranean. 

Countries are also becoming more vocal in distancing themselves from organisations claiming to flag vessels on their behalf. The Tonga government, for instance, issued a statement earlier this month denouncing any foreign vessel claiming to fly its flag. It said Tonga’s international registry of ships was closed in 2002 and the kingdom does not register foreign vessels engaged in international voyages.