According to a dispatch issued by the Permanent Mission this evening, The Liberia Permanent Mission to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) London, United Kingdom has had a high-level meeting with the Officials of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on tackling the issue of "dark fleets" or "shadow fleets" in the realm of international shipping.
The meeting was potentially meant to forge vibrant collaboration to tackle the problem of ‘Dark Fleet’ or ‘Shadow Fleet’, a growing menace in global shipping that Member States of the IMO are trying to combat. The IMO, through its Legal Committee, has on its agenda the issue of “Measures to prevent unlawful practices associated with the fraudulent registration and fraudulent registries of ships” which deals with issues like “dark or shadow fleet”. It is in this respect that the 33rd Assembly adopted Resolution A33/Res.1192 in December 2023.
This resolution declared "dark fleet" or "shadow fleet" as ships that are engaged in illegal operations for the purposes of circumventing sanctions, evading compliance with safety or environmental regulations, avoiding insurance costs or engaging in other illegal activities, which may include:
i. carrying out unsafe operations that do not adhere to international regulations and well-established and strict industry standards and best practices;
ii. intentionally avoiding flag State and port State control inspections;
iii. not maintaining adequate liability insurance or other financial security;
iv. intentionally avoiding commercial screenings or inspections;
v. not operating under a transparent corporate governance policy that assures the welfare and safety of those on board and the protection of the marine environment; or
vi. intentionally taking measures to avoid ship detection such as switching off their AIS or LRIT transmissions or concealing the ship's actual identity when there is no legitimate safety or security concern sufficient to justify such action.
It is against this backdrop that the hour plus deliberations between the Liberia Permanent Mission and the UK Officials discussed how they could collaborate to tackle this growing menace in international shipping.