Cook Islands Registry Ejected From Sanctions Risk Database
Maritime Cook Islands has rapidly grown its open registry service over the past few years, and has an ambitious goal to amass one percent of all tonnage by the early 2030s. But the registry's commercial success has attracted scrutiny for its host government, the Cook Islands. After multiple reports of "shadow fleet" tankers on its registry, the Cook Islands has been ejected from a U.S.-backed information platform that helps registries track sanctioned vessels.
Like many small sovereign states, the Cook Islands contracts out the operation of its ship registry to a private company - in this case, Maritime Cook Islands Limited, headquartered in Rarotonga. Under private management, the registry has grown to encompass nearly 800 merchant ships within a matter of years.
However, New Zealand's foreign affairs ministry has identified multiple "shadow fleet" tankers on the Maritime Cook Islands registry, and has repeatedly asked the Cook Islands government to address the matter. (New Zealand and the Cook Islands are closely linked through a compact of free association.)
The concerns began after a spurt of explosive growth at the registry. In the first half of 2024 alone, Maritime Cook Islands expanded its fleet by 140 percent, vaulting it into the top thirty flag registries by tonnage worldwide - largely by adding older tankers. Shadow fleet operators have generally built their ventures with older tonnage, purchased, renamed and reflagged.
As early as November 2024, New Zealand's diplomats raised "deep concerns" in security talks about an apparent pattern of sanctions evasion among certain Cook Islands-flagged tankers. Internally, New Zealand officials were concerned about the risks of an "increasing number of problematic and sanctioned vessels" on the Cook Islands registry, raising reputational and legal hazards that could arise if disreputable ships stayed on the list.
New Zealand may not be the only party with concerns. Earlier this month, Maritime Cook Islands learned that it had been removed from access to the Registry Information Sharing Compact (RISC), an international database designed to help registry administrators find and block sanctions violators. RISC was set up by leading flag states, including Panama and the Marshall Islands. Maritime Cook Islands said that it had not received an explanation about why that decision had been reached, except for an allegation of potential violations of terms and conditions of the service.
"MCI reached out to the founding members of RISC on 8 May 2025 and again on 13 May and again on 21 May. MCI has not had a response from any of them," Maritime Cook Islands told Radio New Zealand. "MCI is at a loss to understand what possible violation has been committed."