IMO Issues Warning About Two Fraudulent Shipping Registries

In advance of the upcoming legal committee meeting, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has issued a warning about two shipping registries it considers fraudulent.

The registries in question are allegedly operated in the names of Guyana and Eswatini.

Despite notifications from the Guyanese government regarding a fraudulent registry at www.imsag.org, the IMO has circulated a warning about its continued operation. 

This follows the termination of the agreement between Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department and the Aryavart Corporation, along with its subsidiaries Nautilus Register and the International Maritime Safety Agency for Guyana (IMSAG). 

The warning highlights ongoing issues such as the issuance of fake registration certificates and unauthorized activities by recognized organizations.

After facing difficulties in Guyana, the Aryavart Corporation from India established the Eswatini Maritime Affairs and International Ship Registry. 

This registry was set up as a private entity in Singapore late last year, falsely registering vessels under the name of Eswatini, a landlocked country formerly known as Swaziland. The IMO has identified several ships falsely flagged under Eswatini as "False Eswatini."

Moreover, the same Indian group has recently been in discussions in landlocked Laos to set up another shipping registry.

Like Eswatini, Laos is not a member of the IMO. This incident adds to a list of landlocked countries such as Mongolia, Bolivia, and San Marino (which established a ship register in 2021), that have featured in discussions about unconventional maritime registries.