“Flag of convenience” ships pillaging the oceans

June 2008. The murky system of registering vessels to countries offering flags of convenience (FOC) is fuelling pirate fishing in the world's oceans and risking potentially catastrophic security and safety breaches, according to a new report from the International Transport Workers' Federation and WWF, the global conservation organization.

Often FOC countries exercise little or no control over how ships registered to fly their flags operate, and they turn a blind eye to illegal activities. FOC ships subsequently dominate lists focusing on sub-standard shipping, poor safety, maltreatment of crew, pollution of the marine environment and illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing.

The Uruguayan-flagged, Viarsa 1, suspected of fishing illegally for Patagonian toothfish in Australian Antarctic waters, was apprehended in August 2003 after a marathon hot pursuit across the Southern Ocean. The vessel was apprehended with assistance from the South African and United Kingdom authorities, and brought back to Australia. © Australian Fisheries Management Authority

Piracy, arms smuggling, people trafficking
The report, Real and Present Danger: Flag State Failure and Maritime Security and Safety, cites examples of criminal activities by FOC ships, including piracy, arms smuggling and people trafficking, and notes that illegal activities are often intertwined with those that are legitimate.

"Many of the thousands of ships plying the world's oceans are effectively without nationality, their owners operating under a veil of corporate secrecy and anonymity within a system that allows vessel owners to easily evade international laws and regulations." said the report's author, independent consultant Matthew Gianni. "Under the FOC system, flag state sovereignty and control over ships is fast becoming a fiction of international law"

Industrial fishing vessels
The report also raises concerns about the persistent flag state offenders associated with high seas IUU fishing - worth an estimated US$1.2 billion each year - and trends in flagging large-scale fishing vessels to FOC countries.

Landlocked
According to Lloyd's Register of Ships, 318 large-scale fishing vessels are registered to Cambodia, Georgia, Mongolia (which is land-locked), North Korea, Sierra Leone and Togo. Yet based on a review of data from relevant regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), none of these countries has any vessels authorized to fish in any of the areas on the high seas regulated by these organizations. On the contrary, a number of fishing vessels from five of these six countries are currently "blacklisted" by RFMOs for having engaged in IUU fishing.

"Without transparency of ownership on the FOC registers and flag states exercising effective jurisdiction over vessels flying their flag, FOC vessels will continue to plunder marine resources on the high seas with impunity," said Miguel Jorge, acting Director of WWF's Global Marine Programme.

WWF is calling for the establishment of a UN Committee to negotiate a new implementing agreement to UNCLOS - the legal framework governing the use of ocean space - that sets out enforceable measures to ensure flag States fulfill their responsibilities under UNCLOS and prevents States from operating vessel registers in breach of regulations and international agreements.

Law of the Sea
Under the UN Law of the Sea Convention, the flag state of a ship has the primarily responsibility for ensuring a ship's compliance with international laws and regulations. Where the flag state is unwilling or incapable of exercising its control over a ship, there are limited actions that other countries can take.