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The International Maritime Organization’s Legal Committee approved a new set of guidelines on ship registration
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Guidelines are intended to improve transparency and due diligence in ship registration, as well as prevent fraudulent registrations and misuse of flags
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The committee noted that the number of ships flying a false flag had increased since the previous session in 2025, with 529 recorded in the past year
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Other matters tackled during the April 13-17 sessions include substandard shipping, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, seafarers’ welfare, and regulatory gaps on the use of alternative fuels
The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Legal Committee has approved a new set of guidelines to improve transparency and due diligence in ship registration, as well as prevent fraudulent registrations and misuse of flags.
In a statement, IMO said the guidelines will serve as the first international framework for regulating ship registration.
The newly approved guidelines will assist new and existing flag State ship registries by providing practical measures to strengthen verification and due diligence, ensure accurate ownership records, and improve oversight of registration procedures.
“This is a welcome step towards ensuring due diligence in ship registration systems for the benefit of safety, protection of the marine environment and the well-being of seafarers, essential for the safety and security of international shipping,” IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez said at the closing of the 113th session of the Legal Committee held in London on April 13-17.
“The Guidelines will also aid in eliminating cases of fraudulent registration,” he added.
The Legal Committee noted that the number of ships flying a false flag had increased since the previous session in 2025, with 529 ships falsely flying the flag of a country in the past year. Nearly 40 member states had seen cases of their flags being fraudulently used by criminal groups without their knowledge or consent.
The guidelines focus on the following:
- Legislation governance and control on who can perform registration of ships
- Procedures for quality assurance in ship registration
- Due diligence on ownership and ship identification
- Due diligence on ship identity and eligibility checks
- Information sources and information sharing.
Meanwhile, the committee also tackled concerns on substandard shipping by reestablishing a correspondence group to continue working on the Regulatory Scoping Exercise to review IMO conventions and other tools available to Member States.
The correspondence group will develop terms of reference for a working group to be convened at the next session to focus on the issue.
IMO’s Legal Committee also strongly condemned continuing threats and violence in the Middle East waters, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz, including the Islamic Republic of Iran’s threats of laying mines, and the reported toll collection system in the crucial waterway.
The Committee affirmed that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s actions were contrary to the right of transit passage, which must not be impeded, through the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law.
READ: IMO calls for immediate halt to attacks on commercial ships
Seafarers’ welfare
The committee also noted with alarm that in 2025, there were 410 new cases were reported on the joint IMO-International Labor Organization database on seafarer abandonment, affecting more than 6,000 seafarers.
In 185 cases, there was no obligatory financial guarantee.
These figures excessively surpass all the previous years’ record of reported cases, IMO said. .
In January this year, a further 103 abandonment were recorded in the database.
The Committee urged Member States to ratify the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, including new amendments on how to deal with seafarer abandonment cases.
On decarbonization, the committee agreed that a regulatory gap existed in relation to liability and compensation for incidents involving alternative fuels used for ship propulsion.
It added that existing international liability regimes do not adequately address the specific risks of these fuels, and this gap must be addressed to ensure legal certainty and effective compensation for victims.
Another correspondence group was established to work on this matter and report back to the next session.
READ: IMO, PH: Seafarer training must keep up with ship modernization
