Madagascar has warned of a surge in fraudulent ship registrations after its authorities identified nine vessels using flag state documents in the country’s name. Port authorities told the International Maritime Organization in a formal letter that the vessels – ranging from general cargo ships to small product, LPG and crude tankers – were presenting documents that implied Madagascan registration despite the state having no international registry. The Madagascan notification places the problem alongside other African registries that have been exploited by operators seeking to mask vessel provenance through false flags and forged documents. Throughout 2025, more than 300 shadow fleet tankers involved in sanctioned Iranian, Venezuelan, or Russian oil trades shifted to fraudulent flags, often after repeated flag hopping, according to data from maritime analytics firm Windward. The most frequently used fraudulent registries were Guinea (51 ships), Netherlands Antilles (45), Guyana (44), and Aruba (24). Windward data shows approximately 120 Russia-trading tankers over 180 m in length broadcasting flags from 19 fraudulent registries, including Botswana, Guyana, Guinea, and Madagascar. “When a vessel claims a fraudulent or nonexistent registry, the mechanisms that underpin maritime trade begin to fail,” Windward stated, going on to explain: “Flag-state responsibility becomes unenforceable. Insurance and classification linked to that flag may be invalid, suspended, or impossible to verify.” Splash has reported repeatedly in recent years on the sudden growth of many African registries in line with the growth of the shadow fleet moving Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan cargoes around the world. Last week, Splash reported Cameroon’s government has started to clamp down on shadow ships using its register. Cameroon’s flag has grown by 126% over the past 12 months and is now Africa’s third-largest, according to data from Clarksons Research, largely thanks to Russian-linked tonnage entering its books. The average age of ships flying the Cameroon flag is 32.7 years. Cameroon’s prime minister, Joseph Dion Ngute, has now taken steps to purge the country’s flag of dark fleet tonnage. Cameroon has suspended new registrations of ships thought to be part of the shadow fleet, as well as setting out to deregister shadow ships that are already on its books. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsCameroon Madagascar