"The majority of the vessels are crude oil carriers that appear to be operating between Iran and China, with the vessels loading Iranian crude in the Persian Gulf before conducting ship-to-ship transfers and other movements designed to hide the true origin of the oil before unloading it in China, said Mark Douglas, maritime domain analyst with Starboard Maritime Intelligence in New Zealand."
"Under modern maritime law, ships are assigned numbers used by the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which allows authorities to trace them and reduces the possibility of collision. "Of the 29 tankers identified as falsely using the Tongan or Cook Island flag, 21 are sanctioned and another two are transmitting invalid AIS numbers, which makes checking their sanction status more difficult," according to the analyst."
The governments of Tonga and the Cook Islands condemned misuse of their national flags after reports that at least 29 ships were flying their colors to dodge international sanctions. Most of the vessels are crude oil tankers operating between Iran and China, loading Iranian crude in the Persian Gulf then using ship-to-ship transfers and other movements to conceal the oil's origin before unloading in China. Analysts say tankers often adopt false flags after removal from other registries, frequently due to sanctions violations. Modern maritime law relies on AIS numbers for tracking, but crews can transmit invalid numbers or switch AIS off to become effectively invisible. Of the 29 tankers identified, 21 are sanctioned and two transmit invalid AIS numbers, complicating sanction checks. States including Russia, Venezuela and Iran have increased false-flag use, and authorities have moved to tighten maritime controls.
Read at www.dw.com
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