The IMO discussed the problem of illegal registration of ships

The 112th session of the IMO Legal Committee was held in London.

This was reported by the Shipping Administration.  

During the meeting, the participants paid special attention to the problem of illegal registration of ships and fraudulent maintenance of ship registers.

“A decision was made to improve the IMO guidelines and best practices on the issue raised,” the message says.

In addition, the member states launched a regulatory analysis of the scope of application of international conventions (Regulatory Scoping Exercise, RSE) in terms of the use of substandard ships and the “shadow fleet”.

Ukrainian representatives participated in the working group on the development of terms of reference for the activities of the intersessional group of experts. If approved by the IMO Council in July 2025, it will work on a review of IMO instruments and other documents in the field of the use of substandard ships and present the results of the work to the next session of the IMO Legal Committee.

It should be noted that the session also considered issues related to abandoned seafarers, ratification of the Protocol to the 2010 HNS Convention, legal aspects of the use of autonomous surface vessels at sea, and implementation of conventions on liability and compensation. As previously reported by USM, Panama is deregistering 107 vessels due to sanctions.