A US Marine Corps attack helicopter patrols near Iran.
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Botswana said an oil tanker disabled by the US in the Persian Gulf was falsely registered under its flag, highlighting a common tactic that often uses African nations to obscure the identity of ships.
US Central Command took action against the “Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie” as part of efforts to curb Iranian oil exports during its ongoing war with the Persian Gulf nation, according to a post on X.
The landlocked southern African country that’s largely covered by the Kalahari Desert denied that the tanker, or any other vessel, is registered there.
“Botswana has neither registered nor operates any vessels under its flag, and therefore any vessels purporting to sail under the Botswana flag are engaged in unlawful activity and are not entitled to recognition by other states,” the Ministry of International Relations said in a statement Thursday.
Falsely displaying the registration of a country is a tactic used by shadow-fleet vessels attempting to evade international tracking due to sanctions.
A total of 529 ships have been identified as fraudulently flying nations’ flags, according to the International Maritime Organization’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System.
Of 10 nations with the most false-flagged ships, half are in Africa, led by Comoros with 83 vessels. Guinea, Madagascar and Mali — the latter is also a landlocked nation — were also at the top of the list.
Madagascar has “never issued any documents authorizing international navigation for vessels flying the Malagasy flag,” its Ports, Maritime and Rivers Agency said in a statement Monday.
In cases of flag fraud or vessels operating without valid registration, “the Comorian state is the victim of fraud, not a perpetrator,” the Comoros’ National Agency for Maritime Affairs said in March.
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