The surge in “false flag” is now evolving into one of the most serious systemic risks for international shipping, with the latest data from Windward recording an explosive increase in ships that appear to be sailing under non-existent or fraudulent registries.
According to Windward’s analysis, at the end of 2025, approximately 285 tankers operating internationally were transmitting via AIS a flag corresponding to a fraudulent or unknown registry, a number that increased by almost 45% in 2025.
What until recently was considered a marginal practice of limited scale, it has today become a key survival tool for the so-called “shadow fleet.”
The analytics company has identified 18 fraudulent registries, as defined by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), with the most common being Guinea (51 ships), the Netherlands Antilles (45), Guyana (44) and Aruba (24).
A striking 91% of vessels using these fraudulent registries were already sanctioned by Western authorities, underscoring the increased pressure dark fleet tankers face in finding a legitimate regulatory home to continue trading.
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