Comoros Cracks Down On False Ship Registrations

Israeli maritime analytics company Windward has reported that the government of Comoros has begun purging its international shipping registry. The flag has been heavily linked to dark fleet tankers used to move Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan oil in defiance of sanctions.

According to the Equasis database, 62 tankers, three LPG carriers, and one tugboat have now been identified as falsely flying the Comoros flag. Windward data shows that, as of September 14, all but one of these vessels were sanctioned by the US, EU, or UK and were active in sanctioned oil trades.

Windward’s earlier research in August revealed that Comoros accounted for 38% of sanctioned dark fleet tonnage over 20,000 dwt that was legitimately flagged. Other major flags included Gambia, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone. Additionally, 57% of sanctioned tonnage was either falsely flagged or registered under an unknown flag.

Data from Clarksons Research on August 1 ranked Comoros as the world’s 25th largest registry, with 615 ships recorded - reflecting a 274% increase in its fleet this year.

In July, both the EU and UK imposed sanctions on Intershipping Services, a UAE-based firm that manages the registries of Comoros and Gabon. Gabon, like Comoros, has drawn criticism for its ties to Russian crude shipments.

Both flags remain under close scrutiny by port state control authorities. Comoros, in particular, is associated with high-risk activity, ranking on the Paris MOU blacklist, flagged red by the US Coast Guard, and repeatedly linked to crew abandonment cases, according to the ITF.

Windward also reported that beyond legitimate but misused registries, the dark fleet is relying on 12 completely fraudulent registries, including those claiming to represent Angola, Aruba, Benin, Curacao, Eswatini, Guinea, Guyana, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, St Maarten, and Timor Leste.