Netherlands Fights Shadow Fleet's Use of Fake Caribbean Flags

Dutch authorities are taking steps to challenge "shadow fleet" tankers that pretend to operate under the flags of island states in the Netherlands Antilles.

According to the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners (KVNR), several dozen tankers are flying the flags of Aruba, Sint Maarten and Curacao at any given time, though the roster changes regularly (consistent with the "flag-hopping" practices seen in the shadow fleet).

Aruba and Sint Maarten show up often on the AIS broadcasts and paperwork of shadow fleet ships, but in reality these small nations do not operate registries at all. And Curacao, which does have a shipping registry, has not registered any of the shadow fleet tankers.

"The KVNR considers the flying of fraudulent flags to be very damaging to the reputation of the Netherlands and Curaçao," said the KVNR in a recent statement.

KVNR called for Dutch authorities to enforce the rules within Dutch waters, since shadow fleet tankers pass by the Netherlands all the time. It also went a step further: it noted that international law "seems to allow for action even on the high seas against stateless ships" - a category that includes any Aruban- or Sint Maarten-flagged ship. Coastal and port states could take similar steps to enforce the law aboard stateless vessels.

In Curacao, officials have called for foreign port state control officials to take action against tankers flying the Curacao flag, and to pursue criminal charges, according to the local Curacao Chronicle. The outlet reports that the Dutch government is taking the matter seriously and challenging fraudulently-registered vessels wherever possible. Dutch coast guard assets intercepted two vessels flying Aruban flags through the Dutch EEZ in August, but did not board them. Inspections of false Antilles-flagged tankers are expected when such vessels are at anchor in Dutch waters, the Chronicle reported.

The shadow fleet has expanded rapidly amidst tightening Western sanctions on Russia, and it has shifted towards the use of less-legitimate and nonexistent flag states, as the larger open registries have become wary of the compliance risks of associating with the trade. When including smaller sub-fleets serving Iran and Venezuela, the estimates of the shadow fleet's size range as high as about 900 vessels, per one measure published by S&P Global - up to about 17 percent of all global tanker tonnage, most of it generally aging and underinsured.

Top image: Tanker Eagle S / Finnish Border Guard handout