ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out to examine the problem of ships registered in a state when there is little or no connection (such as ownership, nationality of the crew, routes followed, etc.) between the ship and the state. Such nationality arrangements are often described as ‘flags of convenience’ and are being promoted by those flag states that can offer this particular kind of registration services. The problems related to the use of flags of convenience have been widely discussed and in regard to different aspects. In this chapter we will look at the problem of the changing of nationality for the purpose of hiding the ship’s – and its owners’ – true identity in order to conduct criminal activity. Such arrangements could cause problems when coastal states try to combat crime at sea. In an independent report published in 2005, funded by WWF International, the Australian government and the International Transport Workers Federation, the following was stated with respect to unregulated fishing on the high seas by fishing vessels:
The widespread and pervasive failure of so many States to uphold their fundamental duties as flag States arguably makes a mockery of the notion of flag State sovereignty. It risks undermining the integrity of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and numerous related agreements and upsetting the balance between the interests of coastal States and high seas fishing States.1
