The really bad FOCs

[ombugge]

Some comments on “the dark fleet” and the people that operate the ships:

The dark side - Splash247

Older tanker people will know what had met my eye; it was the cargo to bunker piping connection at the manifolds, which tankers of a certain age were built with. I did know an American master with DK Ludwig who had used it, in mid-Atlantic, and when he arrived and confessed his abstraction of a few hundred tons of Arab Light to his oil major charterers, their only response was, “Did it burn all right?”

Yes here is one “older tanker man” that known about the so called “Greek bend”.

[ombugge]

Gabon is gaining popularity fast:

Sovcomflot reflags en masse to Gabon - Splash247

Last year, the Gabon flag grew by 130.6%, according to data from Clarksons Research. The registry has won enormous amounts of tonnage in the close to two years since Russia invaded Ukraine becoming the number one flag for Russia’s dark fleet.

Among the ships on Gabon’s books was the Pablo , a 1997-built aframax that exploded in Malaysian waters killing three crewmembers in May last year. The destroyed, uninsured ship, with a history of hauling Iranian oil, was one of the shipping images of 2023, a stark reminder of the risks associated with the dark tanker fleet.

The Pablo is now nearing the end: Dark fleet casualty Pablo to be scrapped in Indonesia - Splash247

[ombugge]

Democratic Republic of the Congo fares the worst in flag survey - Splash247

Although an exhaustive study, the ICS table does not cover all flags. Among notable omissions from the table is Gabon, last year’s fastest-growing shipping registry. In the opening days of 2024, its growth has been phenomenal thanks to a massive reflagging operation conducted by Russia’s top shipping concern, Sovcomflot.

But it is not all “gloom and doom”, Here is this years ICS report. (Download from here):
https://www.ics-shipping.org/resource/shipping-industry-flag-state-performance-table-2023-2024/

As in previous years, a number of Flag States have shown positive indicators for all of the criteria used in the Table. These include Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Denmark, Greece, Hong Kong (China), Japan, Liberia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

Source: ICS publishes highly anticipated Flag State Performance Table | Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

[ombugge]

Two top contenders for the title. (The third may be coming):

IMO highlights two fraudulent shipping registries - Splash247

Flags being administered allegedly on behalf of Guyana and Eswatini have come in for criticism.
The Indian backers of the Eswatini flag have also been in landlocked Laos recently, where they are in discussions to create another shipping registry.

PS> That doesn’t mean that ALL FOCs are the same, nor that ALL open registers are FOCs.
Here is the ITF list of FOCs:

Current registries listed as FOCs

You’ll find several of the FOCs list above on the Paris MoUs White List:

Paris%20MOU%20White%20List%2007-2023--06-2024%20(22).pdf

[BrownWaterGuy]

@ombugge

Two top contenders for the title. (The third may be coming):

These are not Flags of Convenience … they are not Flags at all.

[Hogsnort]

Belize must have improved their game to make the grey list

[ombugge]

Belize is not counted among the “really bad FOCs”, otherwise it would have attracted “dork fleet” operators…

Here is some news about those who are operating those tankers, their “flag of choice” and their “little helpers”:

Dark fleet flags attempting to bribe states to avoid detention - Splash247

[Hogsnort]

I can recall a time when Belize had no documentation at all . Just the flag.

[ombugge]

Not only crude tankers, could there become a “LNG dark fleet” as well?:

Kalleklev warns of likely emergence of dark LNG fleet - Splash247

“If Europe is not taking the Russian cargoes, the other countries in the BRICS, being Brazil, India, China, and South Africa, are willing buyers of the Russian LNG, which will result in longer sailing distances,” Kalleklev said, adding that the company does not expect any shut-in of Russian LNG but that the country’s inability to build or charter in the necessary tonnage for its projects could lead to increased demand for existing vessels on the water, potentially resulting in the arrival of an “LNG dark fleet”.

[ombugge]

Palau is gaining on the list of worst FOCs:

Vessel detained in Haifa after 18 rule breaches uncovered by ITF Inspector

BalticShipping.com

While Cook Islands are gaining more Dark fleet tonnage:

Dark fleet additions see Cook Islands become a top 30 flag - Splash247

[ombugge]

Looks like the “Dark fleet” will be shrinking in the near future:

Shadow VLCCs lined up for demolition - Splash247

“If sanctions continue to make Chinese customers wary of Iranian barrels, the VLCCs over the age of 20, which carry the majority of Iranian oil, are likely to be scrapped,” Braemar suggested in a new report. So far in 2024, two-thirds of the crude oil on 20+ year-old VLCCs has been Iranian.

“If the US could dramatically reduce Iranian exports, this would give a boost to the tanker market, in particular VLCCs,”
Five years ago, Trump’s previous administration sanctioned Chinese state-run carrier COSCO’s subsidiaries for their participation in Iran oil trade, causing freight rates to spike to $200,000 a day.

[ombugge]

Flags of questionable quality grow market share - Splash247

It’s not just flags in far off places that have seen business surge in line with the growth of the shadow fleet. Less established names in classification and insurance have emerged. For instance, 86% of the global merchant fleet is now insured with the 12 P&I clubs that form the International Group, down from 95% prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago. Similarly the amount of tonnage classed by the established members of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has dropped two percentage points over the past three years to 92%.