Landlocked Central Asian Kyrgyz Republic Warns IMO of False Flag
False flag operations continue to pop up and jump from country to country as quickly as nations can issue warnings of the situation. The latest warning sent to the International Maritime Organization at the end of July came from the landlocked Central Asian Kyrgyz Republic. Located hundreds of miles from the ocean, shadowy interests appear to be attempting to take advantage of the country’s effort to build an international shipping register.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications writes to the IMO informing them that the republic “has not granted any authorization to any legal entity or individual to register, operate, or use sea-going vessels under the state flag of the Kyrgyz Republic.” It calls any efforts "unauthorized" and warns they “shall not entail any legal consequences” for the republic.
Kyrgyz asked the IMO to circulate its notice among member states to “prevent the unlawful use of the State Flag of the Kyrgyz Republic.” The IMO posted the warning as of August 18.
In 1991, Kyrgyzstan declared independence from the USSR and began efforts to build its economy. It only became a member of the IMO in February 2024, and since then it has taken steps toward establishing a registry. It copied the IMO documents showing the proposed structure, but it has yet to register a vessel. Equasis also does not show any vessels claiming the flag.
It is the latest in a growing list of countries that have made similar notifications in recent years. The Government of the Republic of Vanuatu, a small island nation in the South Pacific, filed a similar alert in February warning of a false flag operation purporting to represent its registry and saying it was investigating. It followed Tonga and the Cook Islands, which made similar notices, but unlike Kyrgyzstan, those nations had vessels claiming registry.
Madagascar and landlocked Zimbabwe also warned the IMO of illegal activity and the use of their flags. The Malagasy flag specifically showed up on several shadow fleet tankers.
African nations have been among the most abused by these legal operations. Authorities pressed Cameroon after its flag also started to appear on a growing number of shadow fleet vessels. Clarksons Research said in February that Cameroon’s flag had seen a 126 percent increase in ships over the past 12 months. The country launched an effort and at the end of May wrote to the IMO informing it that the framework had been established for the “ongoing cleaning process of vessel registrations under the Cameroonian flag.” It supplied a growing list of the names of vessels which had their flag revoked or which were illegally claiming registry.
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According to the IMO, the number of ships flying a false flag has increased substantially. It calculated that between April 2025 to April 2006, 529 ships were falsely flying the flag of a country. During the period, it reported that nearly 40 member states had seen cases of their flags being fraudulently used without their knowledge or consent.
The United States was among the countries pushing for action. In May 2025, the Federal Maritime Commission launched what it called a “nonadjudicatory investigation” into flags of convenience and states that were lax in their enforcement of regulations. Responding to advocacy from member states, the IMO’s Legal Committee in April 2026 approved a new set of guidelines that are aimed at improving transparency and due diligence.
