By Marie Willie

MONROVIA, Aug.17 (LINA) – The Liberia Permanent Mission to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has held a high-level meeting with 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.

According to a statement from LiMA, the meeting was 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 statement disclosed that 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”.

Dark fleet or Shadow fleet are 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: carrying out unsafe operations that do not adhere to international regulations and well-established and strict industry standards and best practices; intentionally avoiding flag state and port state control inspections.

According to the statement, Liberia Permanent Representative to IMO, Robert Wilmot Kpadeh informed the meeting that Liberia is well on course in adhering to all IMO's regulations relative to the detecting and preventing of "Dark Fleets".

Kpadeh intimated that through the Liberia Maritime Authority and the Liberia International Shipping and Corporate Registry (LISCR), Liberia ensures strict adherence to UN and IMO instruments, delisted any ship connected or affected by sanctions regimes, and issues official guidance and Marine Notices to all vessels flying Liberia flag on IMO regulations and UN Resolutions on sanctioned assets.

"Working with other member states and institutions, Liberia relentlessly endeavors to ensure the problem of ‘dark fleet or shadow fleet’ is effectively tackled and foiled,” Kpadeh stated.

Meanwhile the statement added that the FCDO thanked Liberia for its leadership role in international shipping by not only adhering to all international regulations and protocols of global shipping but also by assisting the U.N., IMO, and other partners succeed in efforts to prevent malfeasance and idiosyncratic activities in global maritime.

The FCDO hailed Liberia as a responsible nation that has set itself apart in upholding international laws and regulations and looks forward to collaborating with Liberia to address the issue of “dark or shadow fleet” in global shipping.