In particular, as informed by the IMO, the Committee tasked the Correspondence Group on Due Diligence to work intersessionally to develop a draft proposal for a new output on guidelines or best practices on the registration of ships, for consideration  at LEG 112.   

This follows recommendations made in the final report by the Study Group on Fraudulent Registration and Fraudulent Registries of Ships, which was considered by the Committee. The Study Group was established at LEG 109 to initiate a comprehensive study to address all issues arising in connection with fraudulent registration and fraudulent registries of ships, and possible measures to prevent and combat them. It was composed of the World Maritime University (WMU), the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMO IMLI) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).  

In addition to the development of guidelines or best practices for the registration of ships, including stringent measures to deter fraudulent ship registrations practices, the final report by the Study Group recommended a number of actions. These include, amongst others, enhancing existing tools to counter fraudulent ship registration; development of harmonized procedures for registration; addressing current loopholes; conducting awareness campaigns; and making improvements to IMO’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) – specifically the database on ship particulars, which contains information on individual ships (IMO number, flag etc.) and indicates when a ship is identified as  “false flag” or “under UN sanctions”.

Source: Safety4sea

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	Issue 90 of Robban Assafina (Mar./April 2024)