Guyana raises rogue registry warning as sanctioned tankers falsely fly its flag

"Over a dozen tankers linked with Iran, including several that were recently sanctioned, are fraudulently flying the Guyanese flag. The country’s maritime administration said an organisation named the International Maritime Safety Agency of Guyana (IMSAG), with which it used to have a contract, has been registering ships under its flag without authorization. More than a dozen tankers linked Iran are falsely flying the Guyanese flag, as a company previously contracted by Guyana’s government to register vessels continues to do so without authorisation. The South American nation was approached by US lobbying group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) on Thursday over its alleged flagging of tankers involved in Iranian trades, including some tankers that are under US sanctions. But Guyana’s registrar of ships Gale Green told UANI in an email seen by Lloyd’s List that none of the vessels the group mentioned are registered under its flag. Green then noted an “increasing occurrence” of registrations being carried out by an organisation called the International Maritime Safety Agency of Guyana (IMSAG)."