（高雄中央社）海洋委員会海巡署（海上保安庁に相当）偵防分署は29日、台湾海峡で漂流していたいかだなどから1381キロ、末端価格約35億台湾元（約160億円）の大麻を押収し、台湾への不正薬物の密輸に関与していたとみられるモンゴル船籍の小型タンカーの乗組員10人を摘発したと発表した。1度の押収量としては台湾では過去最多だとしている。

同署では密輸の情報を入手後、約3カ月かけて証拠を集め、9日に専門チームを立ち上げた。10日未明には南部・高雄の北西沖でいかだ1隻に立ち入り検査し、大麻221.7キロを押収。11日に同海域で漂流していた無人の救命ボート4隻などから大麻1159.3キロを見つけた。

その後、高雄興達港沖で小型タンカーに立ち入り検査を行ったところ、同船が救命ボートを使って大麻を台湾に密輸しようとしていたことが判明した。

台湾橋頭地方検察署（地検）は、摘発された小型タンカーの乗組員は台湾人3人とミャンマー人7人で、取り調べ後、毒品危害防制条例や不正薬物運搬の罪に違反している疑いが強いとして身柄を拘束したとしている。

（洪学広／編集：齊藤啓介）

Taipei, Dec. 29 (CNA) Ten seamen have been detained on suspicion of smuggling 1.3-metric tons of marijuana earlier this month, the largest drug haul of its kind in Taiwan, the Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office said in a statement issued Friday.

The marijuana seized had a street value of NT$3.5 billion (US$114.2 million), prosecutors said, adding that the illegal operation was interdicted from Dec. 9-12 in the northwest waters off Kaohsiung, where five unmanned rafts being used to shuttle drugs from a Mongolian oil tanker were seized.

According to prosecutors, they worked with the Coast Guard Administration and multiple police departments across Taiwan to intercept the first unmanned raft, registered in Tainan, on Dec. 10, which was carrying four bags of marijuana that totaled 221.7 kilograms.

The next day, the taskforce again seized four similar rafts drifting in the same area, carrying 1,159.3 kg of marijuana in 20 bags with the same packaging as the previous haul.

The evidences enabled the squad to track down the tanker, which is believed to have transported the marijuana, near Kaohsiung's Xingda Port, prosecutors said.

At the request of prosecutors, the Taiwan Ciaotou District Court ordered the detention of all 10 suspects -- the tanker's Taiwanese owner, surnamed Huang (黃), two Taiwanese seamen and seven Burmese fishermen -- for allegedly violating the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act.

According to prosecutors, the marijuana seized in the operation-- which is listed as a Category 2 drug in Taiwan -- could be turned into 2.8 million cigarettes.

(By Hung Hsueh-kuang and Lee Hsin-Yin)

Enditem/AW

By Elisabeth Braw, a columnist at Foreign Policy and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Mongolia is the world’s second-largest landlocked country. On paper, though, it sails more than 3,000 ships. The North Asian country has established a shipping registry that, like other nations taking advantage of shipping’s sketchy rules, has become a preferred choice for a dubious clientele of shipowners.

The decades after the 1920s—when some U.S. companies began reflagging their ships to Panama to be able to serve passengers alcohol—saw decidedly modest maritime powers such as Panama, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands establish the concept of “flag of convenience,” as they allowed shipping companies from any country to register their vessels under their flags. The flag-of-convenience states made money, and the shipping companies could circumvent their own countries’ pesky rules and regulations. Today, Panama, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands are the world’s top three shipping countries measured by dead-weight tonnage.

Now Mongolia is gaining clients—especially shipping companies transporting sanctioned Russian goods. In the shipping industry, Mongolia is one of the world’s most notorious flag-of-convenience states, and now it seems to be flaunting its sorry record to undermine international sanctions. But not even Mongolia’s egregious behavior is likely to put an end to the shipping world’s favorite dodge. It’s more likely to cause lethal maritime accidents.

“The sign says ‘Maritime Administration’ over the door of the one room office which has a handful of computers, a fax machine, ship models for décor, and two civil servants that oversee the ‘Mongolia Ship Registry,’” the Maritime Executive reported in July 2004.

The Maritime Executive was baffled at Mongolia’s arrival in the flag-of-convenience community. Mongolia is the world’s largest landlocked country, a sparsely populated nation mostly known for having more horses than its 3.2 million people, and of course for a famous medieval ruler named Genghis Khan. “A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without wings,” a local saying goes.

The new Mongolian registry, the Maritime Executive found during its 2004 visit, was owned by a Singaporean company that had for years operated Cambodia’s shipping registry, which in turn had lent its flag to many North Korean ships. The year before, the North Korean freighter Sosun had been intercepted carrying 15 scud missiles, conventional warheads, and rocket propellant while sailing under Cambodian flag. When Cambodia reformed its ship registry and Japan introduced more stringent checks on North Korean-flagged ships around the same time, the number of Mongolia-flagged ships quintupled.

It was an unorthodox start for a country wishing to capitalize on fast-accelerating globalization and its most indispensable component, global shipping. “Mongolia is registering anything that floats and can pay the fee,” the Maritime Executive concluded.

And so it continued. Even as the traditionally pastoral country embarked on an economic transformation that has seen it become a major exporter of minerals, it kept wooing regulations-shy shipping companies with its decidedly laissez-faire ship registry. “The Mongolia Ship Registry is the extreme end,” Neil Roberts, head of marine and aviation at Lloyd’s Market Association, told Foreign Policy. “Underwriters are very cautious or averse to this one and similar third-division division flag-of-convenience countries.”

The registry—administered by a for-profit company—isn’t even located in Mongolia; it instead operates out of a Singapore address. So poor is the Mongolia Ship Registry’s standards that the International Chamber of Shipping gave it seven red flags in its 2022-23 Shipping Industry Flag State Performance Table. Panama, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands received no red flags. In its most recent annual report, the Tokyo MOU—a multilateral organization monitoring maritime safety—blacklisted Mongolia as well as Togo, Sierra Leone, and Dominica.

But insurance by fine Western underwriters seemingly matters little to the kinds of shipping companies attracted to the Mongolian registry. “As of today, Mongolia Ship Registry registered approximately 3000 vessels while around 500 vessels having [sic] regular registration. Although Mongolia is a landlocked country, the total tonnage and number of Mongolia registered vessels are more than that of some countries which have sea access,” the registry proudly explains on its website.

And in recent months, the registry has added a slew of new entrants. The Mumbai-based ship operator Gatik Ship Management saw St. Kitts and Nevis—a flag-of-convenience state—cancel the flag registrations of 36 of its ships after it emerged that Gatik was using them to transport sanctioned Russian oil. But no matter: Gatik quickly registered at least four of those ships, including two named Horai and Mercury, in Mongolia, Lloyd’s List Intelligence reports. (Other sanctions-busting Gatik ships have found refuge in Gabon’s registry, which is based in the United Arab Emirates.)

“In registering its vessels with Mongolia, Gatik is scraping the absolute bottom,” Michelle Bockmann, the Lloyd’s List Intelligence analyst who first reported on the transfers, told me. “And Gatik is also sending an incredibly provocative signal to the shipping world. They’re essentially saying, ‘You won’t insure us, you won’t flag us, but what are you going to do about it? We’re going to do as we like anyway.’”

Mongolia’s vessels—both the longtime members and the newly registered ones—are busy. When I checked their movements during the last days of May, the Horai was in the North Sea on a journey from the Russian port of Primorsk to Maceio, Brazil. Previously named Lisca Bianca M and sailing under Italian flag, the Horai was bought by Gatik earlier this year. The Mercury had traveled from Primorsk and was heading into the Suez Canal. Another tanker, the Irbis, which had traveled from Santos, Brazil, was off the British coast and heading in a northern direction.

The longer the sanctions against Russia continue, the busier Mongolia’s ship registry is likely to become. While more prestigious flag-of-convenience countries such as Panama and Liberia may not support the sanctions, their ship registries can’t afford to be involved in activities that are too risky for Western insurers and that may incur penalties from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers U.S. sanctions.

A bottom-ranked flag-of-convenience state such as Mongolia, by contrast, doesn’t much care about building a reputation or relationships in the world of shipping—especially since it has no ocean shipping. Instead, its registry is merely a cash generator, and the vessels now entering it can, if all else fails, get the cargo insurance now offered by a Russian state agency. “If there’s a regulatory rabbit hole, many shipping companies will jump down it,” Bockmann said. “There are so many ways of evading international maritime rules.”

The existence of flag-of-convenience states has implications far beyond the implementation of sanctions. According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, there must be a “genuine link” between the owner of a vessel and the vessel’s flag. An American ship owner, say, should fly its vessels under the U.S. flag. But since the world lacks a maritime police—the International Maritime Organization has no such enforcement powers—the flouting of U.N. convention has been allowed to proliferate. Today nearly three-quarters of the world’s merchant fleet is estimated to sail under flags of convenience. Flag-of-convenience countries are mostly emerging economies (and two EU member states: Cyprus and Malta), and many of them are known to abdicate responsibility during accidents and other crises.

The ammonium that caused a devastating explosion in Beirut three years ago had arrived on a Russian ship sailing under the flag of Moldova, another flag-of-convenience country. The ship’s owners had gotten into trouble and left the ship stranded in Beirut, and Moldova had failed to act; this prompted Lebanese authorities to remove the more than 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate on board lest the cargo sink with the ship and cause a deadly disaster. Then the Lebanese authorities apparently forgot about the lethal substance they were now holding—and it exploded.

The rickety tankers transporting Russian oil and other dangerous substances under Mongolian flag are also floating hazards. “They’re accidents waiting to happen,” Bockmann said. “The only chance to secure compliance with maritime rules is for countries to conduct checks when these ships call on ports.”

But Russia has no incentive to check the ships, she said. Instead the vessels will enter the world’s oceans. If they break down or have an accident, as the Gabon-flagged sanctions-busting tanker Pablo did in April, the Mongolia Ship Registry (employee count: 11 to 50), is unlikely to fulfil its flag state duties. Good Samaritan countries will have to help. What would Genghis Khan make of his country’s current claim to international fame?

Mikhail Voytenko

BY MARTIN SADONGDONG

On Friday, a Philippine landing craft struck a tugboat in the port of Cebu, sinking the tug and claiming the life of one crewmember.

At about 1520 hours, the tug Nagasaka was towing the landing craft Jana Juliana a few hundred yards off Colorado Shipyard, a repair yard located northeast of downtown Cebu. The landing craft's port bow struck the tug, causing the tug to sink, according to the Philippine Coast Guard.

The first crewmember to jump over the side was missing after the sinking, and the PCG sent a dive team from Special Operations Group - Visayas to search the wreck, without success.

First responders also deployed a boom around the wreck of the tug in order to contain any potential spill, but only minimal sheening was observed.

On Saturday, fishermen from the city of Lapu-Lapu - on the other side of the Mactan Channel - located the body of the missing crewmember, and the family has confirmed his identity, according to the PCG.

Lt. j.g. Stephen Pagcaliwagan, a local spokesperson for the PCG, identified the missing mariner as Joseph Villamor.

PCG rescues five Japanese fishermen in distress

In a separate incident over the weekend, the PCG rescued five Japanese crew members from the Mongolian-flagged fishing vessel Catriona, which had taken on a severe list off Navotas, Oriental Mindoro.

At about 0630 hours on Saturday, the PCG Command Center received word that the Catriona was in distress, and watchstanders worked with PCG Station Oriental Mindoro to launch a SAR operation. The crew of the patrol vessel BRP Habagat located the distressed vessel and successfully rescued five Japanese crew members, all in their 70s and 80s. These individuals were identified as Itsuo Tamura, 86; Hiromu Nishida, 83; Hamagato Tsukasa, 80, Osamu Kawakami, 74; and Hata Isamu, 74.

MANILA, Philippines — Members of the Philippine Coast Guard rescued five Japanese crew members Saturday morning aboard MV Catriona in waters off Navotas, Calapan in Oriental Mindoro after encountering a maritime incident.

The foreign nationals said they departed Japan en route to Davao before their fishing vessel was accidentally damaged, causing it to list. They were later rescued at around 6:30 a.m.

"Upon receipt of the report from a transiting vessel, the PCG Command Center coordinated with the Coast Guard District Southern Tagalog and PCG Station Oriental Mindoro to conduct a search and rescue operations, " said the Coast Guard in a social media post.

Those rescued to by the BRP Habagat (TB-271) were the following:

• Isuo Tamura: 86-years-old
• Hiromu Nisiha: 83-years-old
• Hamgayo Tsukasa: 80-years-old
• Osamu Kawakami: 74-years-old
• Hayaan Isamu: 74-years-old

BY MARTIN SADONGDONG

• Five Japanese crew members of a fishing vessel were rescued by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) after they encountered a maritime accident off Calapan, Oriental Mindoro on Saturday morning, March 11.
• Rear Adm. Armando Balilo, PCG spokesperson, said MV Catriona encountered vessel listing at approximately 2.6 nautical miles northeast of Silonay Island in Calapan around 6:30 a.m.
• Photo: Philippine Coast Guard / PCG

By: Jean Mangaluz - Reporter / @JMangaluz

The MV Catriona in the waters off Oriental Mindoro where five Japanese crew members were rescued by the Philippine Coast Guard on Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Photo from the Philippine Coast Guard)

Uei Maru (ex-Oei Maru). IMO 8810334. Length 70 m, 757 t. Mongolian flag. Unknown classification society. Built in 1988 in Saiki (Japan) by Miura. Owned since November 2020 by Forward Marine Ltd (Hong Kong, China). She was reportedly scrapped in Ningde (China) in September 2016 but actually escaped the blowtorches. Her Automatic Identification system has been switched off since February 2017. Though, she has kept on sailing, flying the flag of Belize then of Sierra Leone and performing undisclosed traffics. Since November 2020, she has been inspected eight times in the Vietnamese port of Quangninh. The 28 reported deficiencies did not lead to any detention. In September 2022, Hong Kong (China) inspectors reported 15 deficiencies. Six were related to fire safety, emergency systems, safety of navigation and to maintenance of the ship and equipment and were considered as grounds for detention. The Uei Maru was finally beached in Chattogram flying the flag of Mongolia on October 13, 2022.

　【カラパン共同】フィリピン沿岸警備隊は11日、ミンドロ島北部カラパン沖を航行中に船体が大きく傾いた漁船から73～86歳の日本人乗組員5人を無事救出した。船長の川上修さん（74）＝長崎県長与町＝によると、この漁船を長崎市の企業から中古で購入したフィリピン人に引き渡すため、2月17日に宮城県気仙沼市を出港し、ダバオに向かっていた。

　川上さんによると、船は11日午前0時ごろに傾き始め、無線で救助を要請。最大約35度まで傾斜したが、午前6時半ごろ、沿岸警備隊員がゴムボートで近づき助け出した。5人とも元気な様子。船体が傾いた原因は分かっていない。

　船員らは長崎市と静岡県の在住。

　【ウランバートル＝藤本欣也】モンゴルのムンフオリギル外相は２７日、産経新聞のインタビューに応じ、モンゴル政府が国連安全保障理事会の対北朝鮮制裁決議を順守し、「国境や通関の管理を強化して、北朝鮮に向かう物資や車両を厳しく規制している」と指摘、これまでに「モンゴルの旗で運航していた北朝鮮船舶１７隻の登録を取り消した」ことを明らかにした。

　朝鮮半島の非核化などに向けてモンゴル独自の外交も展開していると強調。外務次官を団長とする代表団を５月中旬に北朝鮮に派遣し、李容浩（リ・ヨンホ）外相らと会談するなど「高官レベルの協議を続けている」という。

　ウランバートルでは今月１５日、滝崎成樹・外務省アジア大洋州局審議官と北朝鮮のリ・ヨンピル外務省米国研究所副所長が接触。滝崎氏は全拉致被害者の一日も早い帰国を求めている。

　ムンフオリギル氏は「日朝両国は接触と対話を継続することが必要だ。そのためにモンゴル政府はいつでも協力できる」と語った。

　中国をめぐっては、昨年１１月にチベット仏教最高指導者、ダライ・ラマ１４世がモンゴルを訪問して関係が悪化。ムンフオリギル氏が２月に訪中し王毅外相と会談、「チベットは中国の不可分な一部」と明言して関係を修復した経緯がある。

　モンゴルにはチベット仏教の信者が多い。ダライ・ラマが今後、モンゴルを訪問する可能性に関しては「現政府はＮＯだが、将来の政府がどうするかは分からない」と含みを残した。

モンゴルが便宜置籍（実際の所有主の国籍を隠すために第３国の旗を付けて運航）方式でモンゴルの旗を付けて運航してきた北朝鮮船舶の登録をすべて取り消したと、ボイス・オブ・アメリカ（ＶＯＡ）放送が３日報じた。便宜置籍は海運業界で通用する慣行。モンゴルは内陸国だが、４００隻以上の海外船舶が自国船舶として登録するのを認めてきた。

ＶＯＡによると、モンゴル政府は先月８日、国連安全保障理事会対北制裁委員会に提出した安保理決議２２７０号履行報告書で、「北朝鮮船舶１４隻の登録を取り消した」と明らかにした。また、履行報告書提出時点を基準にモンゴルの旗を付けた北朝鮮船舶は１隻も残っていないと明示した。政府当局者は「便宜置籍ができなければ北の旗を付けるしかないが、この場合、国際社会の監視のため自由な運航が事実上難しくなる」と説明した。

２２７０号採択後に北朝鮮の便宜置籍船の登録が取り消されたのは今回が初めてではない。今年６月現在、２２７０号が資産凍結対象に指定した北朝鮮遠洋海運管理会社（ＯＭＭ）の船舶２７隻のうち６隻の登録が抹消された。シエラレオネ・カンボジア・タンザニア・パラオなどが自国船舶として登録されていたものを取り消した。国際海事機関（ＩＭＯ）も加盟国に６隻の再登録を禁止するという文書を回覧させた。またモンゴルは３枚分の履行報告書で「モンゴル国営銀行に設置された金融情報チームが対北朝鮮金融制裁違反がないか常時監視している」と強調した。

２２７０号が定めた制裁ではないが、人員送出を通じた北朝鮮の外貨稼ぎにも国際社会がブレーキをかける雰囲気だ。中東や欧州で北朝鮮の海外労働者を本国に送りかえす事例が相次いでいる。地中海の島国マルタは最近、北朝鮮労働者に対するビザ延長および再発行を中断した。これに先立ち、数百人の北朝鮮労働者が働いているポーランドも、北朝鮮の４回目の核実験以降、新規ビザを１件も発行していないと明らかにした。

しかし高高度ミサイル防衛（ＴＨＡＡＤ）体系配備が決定した後、中国が対北朝鮮制裁から離脱する可能性があるという懸念が持続的に提起されている。最近、朝中国境地域を訪問した対北朝鮮消息筋は「２２７０号採択直後と比較すると、北と中国を行き来する人と物資が増えたのが分かる」とし「制裁の履行がやや弱まった雰囲気だった」と伝えた。

　【ニューヨーク＝水野哲也】武器の運送に関わったとして国連安全保障理事会の制裁を受けた北朝鮮の貨物船運航会社が、本来は船を運航できないのに、制裁発動後、船名や運航会社名を変えて運航を続け、制裁を逃れていたことが２５日、読売新聞が入手した国連北朝鮮制裁委員会の専門家パネル報告書で明らかになった。

　英国の北朝鮮大使館職員が手続きしており、外交官も関与した制裁逃れの実態が明らかになった。

　この会社は「オーシャン・マリタイム・マネジメント・カンパニー（ＯＭＭ）」。同社は、キューバで分解された戦闘機やミサイル部品を積み込み、パナマ運河を通過しようとして２０１３年７月に拿捕だほされた貨物船を運航。北朝鮮への武器の輸出や移動を禁じた安保理決議に違反したとして、昨年７月、資産凍結などの制裁が発動され、貨物船を運航できなくなった。

　ところが、報告書によると、制裁発動直後、同社が運航していた１４隻のうち１３隻の船名が次々と変わり、所有会社や運航会社名も変更されて引き続き運航されていた。国際海事機関（ＩＭＯ）に対し、新たな名前や会社名を届ける手続きはロンドンの北朝鮮大使館職員が行っていたという。

　北朝鮮の大手海運会社が国連安全保障理事会の制裁を受けた昨夏以降、自らが運航に関与した貨物船の船名や所有会社を次々と変更していたことが、２５日わかった。対北朝鮮制裁の実施状況を監視する安保理の専門家パネルは、船名などの変更が制裁逃れの手段になっているとみて、制裁の強化を勧告している。

　北朝鮮は、一連の核実験やミサイル発射を受けた安保理決議で、大量破壊兵器関連の物資技術や通常兵器の輸出入禁止、ぜいたく品の禁止、団体・個人の資産凍結など広範な制裁を受けている。

　専門家パネルは今回、これまでの調査結果を報告書にまとめ、北朝鮮の海運会社オーシャン・マリタイム・マネジメント社（ＯＭＭ社）を取り上げた。同社は、戦闘機を大量の砂糖袋の下に積んだ状態でパナマ政府に拿捕（だほ）された貨物船「清川江（チョンチョンガン）」の運航に関わったとして、昨年７月に安保理の下部組織「北朝鮮制裁委員会」から資産凍結などの制裁対象にされていた。

今月４日、全羅南道麗水市（チョンラナムド・ヨスシ）の巨文島（コムンド）から南東３４カイリ（約６３キロ）の公海上。北朝鮮船員１６人が乗ったモンゴル国籍の４３００トン級貨物船「グランドフォーチュン１号」が沈没した。

韓国の海洋警察は救助活動を行って５人を救助したが、２人は死亡し、追加捜索を行って１人の遺体を引き揚げた。救助された３人と遺体３体は板門店（パンムンジョム）を経由して北朝鮮に送った。海洋警察や麗水警察署などによれば、沈没した船は北朝鮮の清津（チョンジン）港から出発して中国揚州市近隣の江都港へ向けて航海中だった。重油５０トンや鉄鉱石などが載っていた。韓国政府は１４日、最後の遺体１体を北朝鮮に引き渡した。

グランドフォーチュン１号は海がない内陸国、モンゴル国籍の船だった。船主は香港にある会社だった。海洋水産部などは船主が「便宜置籍」の一環としてモンゴルに船を登録して賃金が安い北朝鮮船員を雇用し、貨物事業を展開していたと推測した。

便宜置籍は、自国船員の義務雇用比率を避けて税金節約のために他国に船を登録することをいう。それ自体は違法ではない。パナマやリベリア国籍の船が多いのは便宜置籍が多い国だからだ。

モンゴルは内陸国だが２００３年から船舶登録局を開設して他国の船の登録を受けている。船舶登録を受けて税金を集めて海運産業を育成するためだ。ウィキリークスが２００７年に公開した米国大使館の資料によれば、モンゴルには２８３隻が登録されている。船の主人の国籍はシンガポール（９１隻）、パナマ（２２隻）、マレーシア（２２隻）、香港（１２隻）などだった。船主が国籍不明な船も３９隻あった。

北朝鮮が香港会社を代理船主として前面に出し、モンゴルに船を登録した可能性を見せている部分だ。外交部関係者は「今回のグランドフォーチュン号は、韓国領海ではない公海上で発見されたので対北朝鮮制裁決議にともなう船舶の捜索や調査を行えなかった」として「すぐに目についた重油や鉄鉱石のほかに、どんな物があったのかは確認できなかった」と話した。

先月出てきた国連安保理の対北朝鮮制裁の専門家パネル報告書によれば、国籍は北朝鮮ではないが実際は北朝鮮の船と疑われるものが最低８隻以上だった。このうちスンリ２号、グンザリ号、クァンミョン号の３隻は、今回発見されたグランドフォーチュン１号のようにモンゴルに登録されている。他国の国籍を持っており、船主は香港人である船も１隻あった。

国連対北朝鮮制裁の専門家パネルは報告書を通じて「安保理の対北朝鮮制裁決議２０９４号（２０１３年）が発効された後、北朝鮮は船舶を再登録したり国籍を変更したりして制裁を避けようとする可能性が高い」と指摘した。実際に北朝鮮は昨年だけで４隻の船をカンボジア・トーゴなどに国籍を変更した。

このような前例もある。２０１１年５月、北朝鮮の南浦港（ナムポハン）からミサイル武器などと推定される部品を載せてミャンマーへ向かった「ライト」号は、米国海軍の追撃を受けると公海上にとどまって回航した。ライト号は２００６年まで「ブヨン１号」という名前を使う北朝鮮国籍の船舶だったが、北朝鮮核実験後に対北制裁が激しくなると名前を「ライト」に変えて国籍も中米のベリーズに変更して運行した。「ライト」号は米国の取り締まりがあってから２カ月後、アフリカのシエラレオネで国籍を変えて船の名前も「ビクトリー３号」に変更した。国連の対北朝鮮制裁の専門家パネルは、国籍を「洗浄」した北朝鮮の船が１９隻以上に上ると推定している。

本年 ９月２７ 日、台風 １７ 号の影響で石垣島川平湾沖に座礁した外国漁船（１１９ トン、モゴル船籍主イラ）の撤去が、船主との交渉が難航しており、撤去作業の目処がたっいない。
　外国漁船が座礁した川平湾は、西表石垣立公園の指定地域で、国の名勝に指定されている石垣島を代表す景勝地である。
　また、石垣島には沖縄県で唯一指定されている保護水面が２箇所あり、外国漁船が座礁した場所は、その保護水面指定地域となっている。
　当市では、座礁した外国漁船から油が流出め、総量 ２万５５０リット ルの油抜き取り作業を行い、その費用３６０万円を一時立て替えるなどの他、 当該漁船の現状悪化を防ぐ対策等も行っているが、 座礁した外国漁船の状態は、日に日に悪化しており、高波で横転たすると更莫大な撤去費用を要することになり、過去の外国船籍座礁船の事例にあるように放置となれば、川平湾の景観や保護水面海洋生物に多大な悪影響を及ぼすことになる。
　座礁した外国漁船が、籍籍、船主とも外国で、保険契約違反で保険の適用も受けられないことから、地方自治体の権限で撤去やに係る費用を捻出することは非常に困難である。
　よって、当市議会は国と県に対し、川平湾沖に座礁した外国漁船の撤去に早急な支援を求めることを強く要請するとともに、このような座礁船の撤去に係る国の法整備、制度構築が必要である。
　以上 決議する。
平成 ２８ 年１１ 月２４ 日
石 垣 市 議 会
あて先
内閣総理大臣、内閣官房長官、外務大臣、 総務大臣、国土交通大臣、海上保安庁長官 、沖縄及び北方対策担当大臣、沖縄県選出国会議員、沖縄県知事、沖縄県議会議長、八重山選出県議会議員

船主、費用未払い　作業目途立たず

　台風17号の影響で、９月27日に川平の沖合で座礁した漁船「ＳＥＰＥＨＲ」（モンゴル船籍、船主イラン合同会社、１１９㌧）は、１カ月以上たった今も離礁作業の目途が立っておらず、リーフに乗り上げたままとなっている。同船の座礁海域は景勝地。放置された状態がこのまま続いた場合、景観や海洋環境に影響を与えるおそれがある。

　石垣市防災危機管理室（大濵武室長）が２日、市議会の会派「自由民主石垣」（砥板芳行代表、６人）に役所内で行った説明によると、同船からは10月15日に油が流出したため、抜き取り作業で総量２万５５０㍑を回収。急を要したため、作業にかかった費用３６０万は市が一時的に立て替えた。

　しかし、船主から費用は支払われていないため、代理店を通し催促している。船主は離礁を希望しているが、同船には保険が適用されておらず、費用の未払いもあることから、専門のサルベージ業者が船主の信用性の問題から対応を見合わせているのが実情。船主は代理店を通じて「離礁作業の終了を確認してからでないと支払いはできない」と話している。

　大濵室長は「北風や波の影響で時間が立てば離礁は難しくなる。市の税金で作業するのはおかしい。船主が費用を早急に支払う意思があれば作業できるが、支払いの目途は立っていない」と頭を抱えている。

　市議からは「市が（離礁作業を）やらざるを得ないのではないか。国、県に一括交付金などの費用を求めてはどうか」などの提案があった。

　石垣市川平湾入口周辺でモンゴル船籍の漁船「ＳＥＰＥＨＲ」が座礁して１ヵ月余が経過したが、船の撤去に向けた見通しは立っておらず、関係者から「水産業や観光業に悪影響が出かねない」と懸念の声が強まっている。市は「船主の責任で撤去すべき」と主張しているが、船の航行が規定に違反し、重油の抜き取りや撤去の費用に保険が適用されないことが判明。船主であるイランの法人からは撤去に向けた具体的な方針が示されていないという。

平成二十八年十二月二日提出 質問第一八四号 沖縄県石垣島吉原沖の川平湾付近で座礁した外国漁船の撤去等に関する質問主意書 提出者　　仲里利信

モンゴルが便宜置籍（実際の所有主の国籍を隠すために第３国の旗を付けて運航）方式でモンゴルの旗を付けて運航してきた北朝鮮船舶の登録をすべて取り消したと、ボイス・オブ・アメリカ（ＶＯＡ）放送が３日報じた。便宜置籍は海運業界で通用する慣行。モンゴルは内陸国だが、４００隻以上の海外船舶が自国船舶として登録するのを認めてきた。

ＶＯＡによると、モンゴル政府は先月８日、国連安全保障理事会対北制裁委員会に提出した安保理決議２２７０号履行報告書で、「北朝鮮船舶１４隻の登録を取り消した」と明らかにした。また、履行報告書提出時点を基準にモンゴルの旗を付けた北朝鮮船舶は１隻も残っていないと明示した。政府当局者は「便宜置籍ができなければ北の旗を付けるしかないが、この場合、国際社会の監視のため自由な運航が事実上難しくなる」と説明した。

２２７０号採択後に北朝鮮の便宜置籍船の登録が取り消されたのは今回が初めてではない。今年６月現在、２２７０号が資産凍結対象に指定した北朝鮮遠洋海運管理会社（ＯＭＭ）の船舶２７隻のうち６隻の登録が抹消された。シエラレオネ・カンボジア・タンザニア・パラオなどが自国船舶として登録されていたものを取り消した。国際海事機関（ＩＭＯ）も加盟国に６隻の再登録を禁止するという文書を回覧させた。またモンゴルは３枚分の履行報告書で「モンゴル国営銀行に設置された金融情報チームが対北朝鮮金融制裁違反がないか常時監視している」と強調した。

２２７０号が定めた制裁ではないが、人員送出を通じた北朝鮮の外貨稼ぎにも国際社会がブレーキをかける雰囲気だ。中東や欧州で北朝鮮の海外労働者を本国に送りかえす事例が相次いでいる。地中海の島国マルタは最近、北朝鮮労働者に対するビザ延長および再発行を中断した。これに先立ち、数百人の北朝鮮労働者が働いているポーランドも、北朝鮮の４回目の核実験以降、新規ビザを１件も発行していないと明らかにした。

しかし高高度ミサイル防衛（ＴＨＡＡＤ）体系配備が決定した後、中国が対北朝鮮制裁から離脱する可能性があるという懸念が持続的に提起されている。最近、朝中国境地域を訪問した対北朝鮮消息筋は「２２７０号採択直後と比較すると、北と中国を行き来する人と物資が増えたのが分かる」とし「制裁の履行がやや弱まった雰囲気だった」と伝えた。

General cargo vessel Grand Fortune 1 sank at around 0119 LT Apr 4 in East China Sea some 74 kilometers south of Yeosu, South Korea, shortly after passing Tsushima Strait en route from Chongjin, North Korea to China. From the 16 crew on board 3 were rescued, 2 were found dead, 11 are missing, search is under way. According to what survivors said, vessel sank after cargo shift – vessel was loaded with steel products. Korean News Agency Yonhap nevertheless, repeatedly says that vessel “ran aground”. There are some small rocky islands in the area where vessel sank, mere rocks, actually. What happened, then, is not yet clear. Did vessel sank in high seas after cargo shift, or did she hit the rock and sank after that? Crew is North Korean, though vessel is operated by a South Korean Company.
General cargo vessel Grand Fortune 1, IMO 8611805, dwt 6818, built 1987, flag Mongolia, manager SHIN CHANG SHIPPING CO LTD, South Korea.

【麗水聯合ニュース】韓国南部の麗水沖で４日未明に沈没したとみられる貨物船に北朝鮮の乗組員１６人が乗っていたことが分かった。

　韓国の麗水海洋警察署と済州海洋警察署によると、４日午前１時１９分ごろ、全羅南道麗水市の巨文島南東６３キロ沖で、４０００トン級のモンゴル船籍の貨物船と連絡が途絶えた。

　乗組員は船長をはじめとする全員が北朝鮮籍と分かった。救難信号を受け捜索に乗り出した海洋警察署が２人を救助し、済州地域の病院に緊急搬送した。

　この貨物船は北朝鮮北東部の清津地域から中国へ鉄鋼製品を輸送中だった。

　海洋警察署は捜索作業を続ける一方で、モンゴル船籍の貨物船に北朝鮮乗組員が乗っていた経緯などを調べている。

The country risks serious damage to its reputation with its questionable maritime activities.

With more than 250 days of sun a year, Mongolia’s moniker – Land of the Blue Sky – is well deserved; its association with the deep blue sea, though, is less obvious. The nation’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, is located more than 1,300 kilometres from the ocean, and Mongolia is the largest landlocked country in the world. Nevertheless, over the last decade Mongolia has developed a maritime tradition that it rarely speaks of, offering flags of convenience to shipowners since 2003. Although little attention has been given to Mongolia’s merchant fleet, the lack of transparency and scrutiny associated with it risk facilitating illicit activities and causing serious reputational damage to the country. The material benefit that the Mongolian State derives from its merchant navy is far from clear, making it reasonable to question whether Mongolia’s maritime tradition is worth preserving, or if it would be best abandoned.

With 90 percent of international trade being carried by sea, shipping is one of the most vital industries in the world economy. Its inter- and trans-national nature, however, makes it challenging to regulate and, although the UN attempts to do so under the aegis of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), there is considerable leeway to exploit loopholes and ambiguities in the international regulatory regime. One such practice is that of flying flags of convenience – registering a merchant ship in a sovereign state other than that of the ship’s owner. A country that allows foreign-owned ships to fly its flag is said to have an open registry, and three such registries (Liberia, the Marshall Islands, and Panama) currently account for 40 percent of the entire merchant fleet by tonnage. Indeed the practice is so widespread that some three quarters of the global merchant fleet is registered under a flag of convenience.

Ship owners employ this practice for a number of reasons: It allows them to avoid burdensome regulation, it reduces operating costs and tax bills, it allows shippers to employ cheaper labor and, in some cases, it can offer anonymity to the beneficial owner of a vessel. The more pernicious effects of use of this practice include avoiding safety and environmental standards. The moral ambiguity of flags of convenience has made them atarget of ire for international labor unions, but even more concerning than the degradation of labor standards is the potential for the practice to be used to conceal or facilitate illegal activities, such as trafficking of illegal goods, evasion of international sanctions, or providing support to terrorism. Cambodia, for example, used to be notorious for the lax standards of its registry and in 2002 the MV Winner, a Cambodian flagged vessel, was found to be carrying two tons of cocaine off the Canary Islands. This incident highlighted the flagrant abuse of Cambodia’s registry and the government subsequently announced a wholesale reorganization.

Mongolia, for its part, established its own registry under Prime Minister Nambaryn Enkhbayar in February 2003. The Mongolian Ship Registry’s stated mission was to “provide excellence in registry and marine services.” Over the course of ten years the Mongolian merchant fleet grew rapidly and, according to the UN, reached atotal dry weight tonnage capacity of 643,000 tons in 2013. While this total tonnage is low relative to other countries, it is not insubstantial. For example, Mongolian-flagged vessels have a greater capacity than their Iraqi or Sri Lankan counterparts (110 and 239 tons respectively). The Mongolian fleet now comprises 168 vessels and, in terms of dry weight tonnage, is the largest merchant fleet of any landlocked country except Switzerland (1,144 tons) and Luxembourg (1,601 tons) – both highly developed economies with long traditions of nominal ownership.

All the Wrong Reasons

In spite of its self-professed commitment to excellence, though, it seems that the registry has proved popular for all the wrong reasons – in effect serving as the maritime equivalent of an offshore financial center, allowing beneficial ownership to be hidden, operating costs and taxes to be minimized, reducing transparency, and, in some cases, facilitating illegal activities. These concerns are exacerbated by the fact that Mongolia’s registry isn’t even based in the country. It is run out of Singapore and managed by Sovereign Ventures, a conglomerate owned by Chong Koy Sen. Chong is a Singaporean citizen who serves as the honorary consulate of Tuvalu (another state renowned for its flag of convenience) in Singapore as well as managing director of its Ship Registry. It is in Tuvalu that a number of Iranian Government ships (owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company) implicated in sanctions busting are registered. According to a leaked American diplomatic cable from 2007, Sovereign Ventures has long-standing ties to North Korea and used to manage the Cambodian Shipping registry until its 2002 reorganization. Indeed, it was Sovereign Ventures that had flagged the Winner in Cambodia.

While there is no direct link between Sovereign Ventures and these incidents, it is clear that the comparative advantage of the registries it runs lies in their relatively lax regulatory requirements. When it comes to the Mongolian Ship Registry, for example, an international service provider for shipowners and shipbrokers lists the advantages of registering under a Mongolian flag as including: competitive fees and taxes; no tax on profits or capital gains; recognition of all IMO standards and certificates for crew; quick service and issuance of certificates within the hour; and the fact that ships are not subject to requisition as national resources. In addition, there are no restrictions on the ownership of any ship registered in the Mongolia Ship Registry. With the registration process being outsourced, and with reduced standards being the main appeal of the registry, it should come as no surprise that Mongolia’s merchant fleet ranks poorly when assessed according to international metrics.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and International Shipping Federation (ISF) release an annual shipping industry flag state performance table that assesses flag states in terms of performance. These metrics include port state control (whether they have been blacklisted by the world’s principal port state control authorities); ratification of major international maritime treaties; use of recognized organizations compliant with IMO resolution A.379 (which requires states to establish controls over organizations carrying out safety inspections and surveys of ships); age of fleet; reporting requirements (submission of compliance and practice reports as required by the International Labour Organization); and attendance at IMO meetings (suggesting increased likelihood of complying with IMO rules). In all but one of these categories (fleet age), Mongolia performs poorly.

Given that many of these metrics are technical in nature, it is sufficient to highlight Mongolia’s performance relating to port state control to give an idea of the issues that blight the Mongolian merchant fleet. Port state control refers to the inspection of foreign ships in ports and is governed globally by three main regional regimes: the Paris Memorandum of Understanding, the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding, and the United States’ Coast Guard regime.

With most Mongolian-flagged ships operating in the Asia-Pacific region, it is the Tokyo MoU which is most relevant to Mongolia. This agreements binds together 18 Asia-Pacific states and aims to establish an effective regional port state control regime through cooperation and harmonization of activities – the aims of this being to eliminate sub-standard shipping, promote maritime safety, protect the environment, and safeguard working and living conditions on ships. In 2013, the signatories of the Tokyo MoU conducted 142 inspections of Mongolian-flagged vessels. In 131 of these inspections, deficiencies were found (a total of 1,217 separate deficiencies) and 38 of the inspected ships (26.76 percent of the total) had to be detained. This was the second highest of any country and far above the regional average of 4.5 percent. As a result, Mongolia currently finds itself on the blacklist of the Tokyo MoU, with Mongolian-flagged ships subject to increased inspection as a result.

Incidents

Moving from the big picture to individual cases, Mongolian-flagged ships have been (and continue to be) involved in a number of incidents that reflect negatively on the state. These can be broken down into four categories: safety; illicit activity; sanctions busting; and lack of control and oversight. These examples highlight the reputational damage that the practice of maintaining an open registry can cause to Mongolia and the need to carefully consider its continuation.

When it comes to safety, Mongolian ships have been involved in a number of life-threatening and fatal accidents. In November 2003, for example, 13 Russian sailors were rescued from the Fest, a Mongolian-flagged vessel loaded with logs that was sinking in the Sea of Japan after the ship’s engine failed. Since this incident, Mongolia promised to stop registering vessels over 30 years old, but accidents continue to occur. Just last year, two North Korean sailors died aboard a Mongolian-flagged vessel after their cargo ship sunk off the coast of South Korea.

In addition to safety concerns, Mongolian registered ships have also been involved or implicated in illicit activities. In 2003 the MV Unique was searched by Irish police and customs officials as they suspected that it was being used by an international crime gang to carry illegal immigrants. In December 2012 another Mongolian-flagged ship was detained by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency on suspicion ofsmuggling diesel and selling it in nearby countries. Some 200,000 liters of diesel (which is subsidized in Malaysia) worth $1.2 million was found on board.

More worrying than diesel smuggling is the potential use of Mongolian flags to help states avoid international sanctions. Although no direct evidence has emerged of Mongolian ships being used to this end, Mongolia was forced to cancel the flags of five Iranian owned cargo ships in 2012 following international pressure. North Korea, another state subject to international sanctions, has long used foreign registries to hide its shipping activities with foreign-flagged ships having been used for drugs and arms smuggling amongst other things. Cambodia was long the registry of preference, until the international pressure that ensued following the MV Winner incident put an end to this practice in 2002, and the apparent replacement for North Korea was none other than Mongolia. The willingness to provide flags to Pyongyang has attracted stern criticism, with the director of the Institute for International Affairs at James Madison University calling on the State Departmentto “investigate Mongolia’s maritime activities and aims,” before asking that its coordinator for counterterrorism should “certify whether they represent a threat to Americans at home and abroad.”

The final example of abuse of Mongolian flags of convenience is perhaps the most surprising, and relates to control and oversight. In the context of the international effort to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, a number of floating arsenals have sprung up in international waters. These vessels act as storage locations for weapons and personnel, so that ships can quickly and efficiently pick up and deposit security teams as they pass through the Gulf of Aden. With these vessels based out of international waters, regulation of the weapons and material on board falls to the flag state. All weapons aboard U.K. flagged ships, for example, are registered and licensed with the British authorities. If the flag state has limited controls over the storing and transfer of military equipment, then these ships may operate with no oversight. A number of service providers seem to be using Mongolian-flagged ships to this end, and a December 2014 research report by the Remote Control Project(a body that examines developments in warfare) found at least 32 ships that act as such floating armories in and around the area. Of these, eight were found to use Mongolian flags of convenience, while a further two are thought to do so. Given Mongolia’s presence on several blacklists, this means that these weapons are as good as unregistered and these ships are acting without any effective oversight or regulation.

Revenues

It is no surprise, then, that the International Chamber of Shipping included Mongolia on a list of countries that it classified as “conspicuous examples of sub-standard ship registers” in February of this year. Taken together, these metrics and incidents highlight that the Mongolian Ship Registry is open to abuse. But what does the registry bring to Mongolia? Finding precise information about the division of revenues between the Singapore-based company that operates the registry and the Mongolian Marine Administration, which is nominally responsible for it, is almost impossible. Attempts to contact both parties received no reply. However, according to budgetary information from the Mongolian Ministry of Roads and Transportation, the Mongolian Marine Administration was expected to contribute 274.4 million Tugrugs ($140,000) of revenues in 2014. This is a pitifully small amount. It is likely that the registry generates more money than this. The fact that Enkhtuya Nambayar, the sister of the prime minister who founded the registry (who was later jailed for corruption) wasworking there before herself being investigated for corruption (on charges that were later dropped) would suggest that all is not as it seems, but no public information on where, and to whom, the earnings go is available.

Mongolia’s naval tradition is barely ten years old, but its registry has rapidly developed into an example of the risks and failings of poorly controlled open registries and flags of convenience. To date, Mongolia’s willingness to flag foreign vessels has gone relatively unobserved, and there has been little debate within the country about the merits and demerits of this policy. Clearly this needs to change. Mongolian-flagged vessels have been involved in fatal accidents, illegal smuggling, implicated in helping rogue states avoid sanctions regimes, and are currently used to host floating arsenals with no oversight. What is surprising is that these activities have not yet caused significant reputational damage to the country. The longer the government maintains its open registry with little or no oversight, the less likely it is to continue avoiding the spotlight. At a time when Mongolia is already under scrutiny for its rule of law and the behavior of its government, this is reputational damage that it can scarcely afford to sustain. With the registry officially bringing in only $140,000 dollars to the public purse, a cost-benefit analysis of providing flags of convenience makes clear the need to terminate or severely modify the practice. Mongolia is a country replete in tradition, and its ability to retain and protect these traditions is one of its most admirable features. The country’s maritime tradition, however, has a much shorter and more ignominious history, and is one that deserves to be consigned to the deep.

Graham Alexander is a freelance writer currently based in Mongolia.

Source:http://thediplomat.com/

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- Two North Korean sailors are dead and 11 missing after a Mongolia-flagged cargo ship sank off the southeastern coast of South Korea.

Three sailors were rescued by the South Korean Coast Guard after the distressed ship, Grand Fortune 1 sank early Friday.

"The sunken ship sent the rescue signal at around 1:19 a.m. from some 130 kilometers away and took two hours to reach," said Kang Byung Moon, the director of public affairs at the Yeosu Coast Guard.

South Korean officials deployed a search plane and a patrol ship to find survivors and rescued the first sailor around 5 a.m.

"Because he suffered from hypothermia, we could not get any information until he came around to find out that he was from North Korea and that there were 15 others on board," Kang said.

The other two survivors were rescued at 5:55 a.m. and 7:12 a.m. respectively. The three survivors are being treated on Jeju island, according to South Korean government officials.

It remains unclear why the cargo ship sank.

The ship was believed to have be coming from Chongjin in North Korea, headed to China, reported Yonhap, South Korea's semi-official news agency.

It carried a Mongolian flag, but had an all-North Korean crew. The two countries are traditional allies and North Korea has been known to sail rented ships.

South Korean rescuers search for missing sailors after bodies of two are found along with three survivors

The bodies of two North Korean sailors and three survivors have been found off the coast of South Korea after their cargo ship sank. South Korean rescuers are searching for 11 others still missing.

The Mongolian-flagged ship was carrying 16 North Korean crew members when it sent a distress signal in international waters about 80 miles (130km) south of the southern port city of Yeosu, South Korea's coastguard said in a statement.

Three people were rescued and told investigators they escaped from the ship as it was tilting with its freight being pushed to one side.

South Korean coastguard officers said high waves and strong winds were reported in the area where the 4,300-ton ship sank. It was carrying iron ore to China from the North Korean port city of Chongjin.

The South Korean coastguard said it had mobilised 13 vessels and six aircraft to search for the missing crew. Bad weather was still hampering rescue operations, according to the coastguard officers.

It was not immediately known how South Korea would handle the rescued North Korean sailors. Seoul usually repatriates North Korean sailors found drifting in South Korean waters if they want to return home.

All three rescued sailors were taken to a hospital on the southern South Korean island of Jeju and none of them was in a life-threatening condition, the coastguard statement said.

The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war as the 1950-53 Korean war ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. On Monday, the rival Koreas fired hundreds of artillery shells into each other's waters.

ソウル　４日　ロイター］ -韓国の沿岸警備当局者らは４日、北朝鮮の乗組員１６人が乗ったモンゴル船籍の貨物船が、韓国南方沖で沈没したと明らかにした。乗組員のうち２人が遺体で発見され、３人が救助された。残る１１人の捜索が続いているという。

当局者１人によると、鉄鉱石を積んだ貨物船は、北朝鮮東部の清津を出発し、中国に向かっていた。沿岸警備隊員は、救助された乗組員が韓国の病院に搬送されたと述べた。

ロイターの船舶追跡システムによると、同船は中朝間を定期的に航行している。

(Reuters) - A Mongolian-flagged cargo ship has sunk off the southern coast of South Korea, with most of the 16 North Korean crew members on board missing, South Korean coast guard officials said on Friday.

Two crew members were found dead and three were rescued, while a search was under way for the other 11 crew still missing, the officials said.

The Grand Fortune 1 was sailing from the Chongjin region on North Korea's east coast for a Chinese port carrying iron ore, said one official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The vessel sails regularly between North Korea and China, according to Reuters' ship tracking system.

The rescued crew members were taken to a South Korean hospital for treatment, according to the coast guard.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Paul Tait)

Indonesian customs and border guard tried to stop for the check tanker Kyosei Maru, which was crossing Indonesian waters off Batam, Malacca Strait, in the morning Dec 2. It is not explained by the authorities, why did they find the vessel to be suspicious. Tanker didn’t obey orders and kept sailing. Patrol boat closed tanker, officers tried to board the vessel, but were met by five ferocious dogs, unleashed by the crew. Dogs held the fort until one of them was shot dead. Tanker loaded with 1,300 tons of crude oil or oil products was heading for Malaysia, officials said there were no papers on the cargo, vessel’s papers were also missing. Tanker was detained and anchored off Batam.
Using dogs for protection seems to be quite a good idea, in the waters where small tankers are most vulnerable to piracy attacks. Providing of course, the dogs will be protected from the officials.
Voytenko Mikhail
Tanker Kyosei Maru, IMO 8303941, dwt 2517, built 1983, flag Mongolia, manager ZONE ARCTIC SDN BHD, Malaysia.

マレーシアの英字新聞THE STAR ONINEが5月23日、マレーシア海事当局はケンディ島沖で作業中のサルベージ船を発見し不法行為を行っていたとして乗組員を逮捕したと報じています。 発見時このサルベージ船は日本の特設砲艦「長沙丸」の引き上げ作業をしており、中国国籍の船長と乗組員9名を逮捕し引き上げられた残骸や取引先の調査、余罪の洗い出しを行っているとのこと

※引用先（1）

おなじくマレーシアの英字新聞THE STAR ONINEが5月22日付で

ペナン島沖で、サルベージ業者が今年に入り少なくとも5隻以上の沈船を鉄くず回収目的で当局に無許可で引き上げたと報じています

同紙によると不法引き上げの被害にあった沈船の中には旧日本海軍の軍艦、重巡洋艦「羽黒」、軽巡洋艦「球磨」、特設砲艦「長沙丸」が含まれています

•業者がマレーシア当局に無届でサルベージ作業を行っている
•沈船が漁礁として地元の大切な漁場になっており漁業者に被害が出ている
•大戦中に亡くなった水兵たちの墓標であり慰霊の場であること
などの問題点を同紙は解説し、地元から業者に対する非難や中止を求める声が上がっていることを伝えています

※引用先（2）（3）

8月14日NHKニュース9で、この件について特集が組まれ流されましたが、マレーシア現地業者と誤解しそうな表現を使われていましたので気になり調べてみました。

元ソースであるマレーシア紙THE STAR ONINEを読み、鮮明が記されているので海事ポータルからこの当該船について調べました

HAI WEI GONG 889　

•IMO：8662452
•船型：クレーン船
•建造：2007年中国福建省 FUJIAN XINCHANG SHIPBUILDING
•母港：丹東
•船籍：中国→カンボジア
　※引用先（4）　※引用先（5）

この違法サルベージ作業船は乗組員や船歴からして地元の業者ではなく中国の業者と見るのが妥当なようです

地元漁業者の生活の糧であり、大戦の慰霊の場であり、ダイビングスポットとして観光資源になっているペナン島沖の戦没艦船を無許可で鉄屑として転売しようという業者の行為は許されることではありません

戦時中に海没した艦船が違法サルベージ業者に狙われる事案が他にも

バタビア沖海戦で沈没した豪海軍軽巡洋艦「パース」

マレー沖海戦で沈没した英海軍戦艦「HMSプリンス・オブ・ウェールズ」「HMSレパルス」

などでも起こっており英国政府もこれら海の墓標を荒らされることに深い懸念を発しています

※引用先（6）

THE STAR ONINE紙の一連の報道に注目が集まるにつれてマレーシア当局も取り締まりに本腰を入れはじめたようですが、これ以上死者の眠りを妨げるような事のないよう願っています

by eddie chua

PETALING JAYA: A ship that illegally stripped shipwrecks off Penang island for scrap metal has been detained and impounded by the northern region Marine Depart­ment.

There was a mountain of rusty ship parts and salvage work was in progress when the agency’s officials boarded the ship, which is equipped with a crane, off Kendi Island.

The agency had been alerted about the illegal operation after The Star first discovered the salvaging there last week.

The Cambodian-registered vessel was caught red-handed dredging the Chosa Maru wreck, better known as the Japanese wreck among locals. The skipper and his nine-man crew, all Chinese nationals, have been arrested.

Aside from seizing the ship, the authorities impounded a workboat that accompanied Hai Wei Gong 889, a Chinese-made vessel that was commissioned in 2007.

“The ship does not have the documents for salvage work and was operating illegally in Malaysian waters,” a marine department official said.

The ship, workboat and its crew had been ordered to sail to Lumut, where the ship is now impounded.

“We are also investigating where the vessel had disposed the scrap metal after salvaging at least five shipwrecks off Penang, including the two Japanese World War II wrecks,” the official said.

At this point, he said, the authorities were investigating who the buyer of the scrap metal was.

“The department is also investigating how long the ship had operated in Malaysian waters illegally and whether it had looted other areas besides Penang.”

The official said the department was investigating if the vessel had plundered other ships, both commercial and military, off the east and west coast of Malaysia.

The Star reported yesterday that illegal salvagers had plundered scrap metal from at least five shipwrecks, including two Japanese World War II vessels, off Penang waters since early this year and their activities had gone undetected by the authorities.

The unscrupulous salvagers were believed to have “cleared up” at least two wrecks – the Japanese gunboat Chosa Maru, called Kapal Jepun by locals, which sunk in August 1943, and Japanese light cruiser Kuma that went down on January 1944 – and had taken away metal worth millions.

The other three wrecks that are being salvaged are Japanese warship Haguro, Kapal Taiwan and Kapal Simen, which are all located off Kendi Island.

台風１９号が北上する中、今月９日、奄美大島沖で機関故障のため巡視船にえい航される途中ロープが切れた自動車運搬船がその後漂流し、およそ５００キロ流されていたことがわかりました。漂流したのはモンゴル船籍の自動車運搬船「ＨＡＲＭＯＮＩＭＡＳ３」２７１９トンです。第十管区海上保安本部によりますとこの船は今月８日、奄美大島の名瀬港の北西およそ３０キロで機関故障となり、９日に巡視船がえい航していましたが台風による波の影響でロープが切れました。乗組員の日本人７人とインドネシア人２人の合わせて９人はヘリで救助され、けがはありませんでしたが、無人の船は漂流を続けました。船は西に流され奄美大島と中国のほぼ中間にあたる名瀬港の西およそ３５０キロまで漂流。その後、台風の影響で南東におよそ１８０キロ流されたところで、１５日巡視船に発見され曳航されたということです。１週間でおよそ５００キロ漂流したとみられています。自動車運搬船は１６日沖縄の海域で船主に引き渡されたということです。

台風１９号で次第に波が高くなる中、９日午前奄美大島沖で巡視船が機関故障の自動車運搬船を曳航していたところロープが切れました。運搬船の乗組員９人はヘリコプターで救助されました。第十管区海上保安部によりますと、曳航のためのロープが切れたのはモンゴル船籍の自動車運搬船「ＨＡＲＭＯＮＩＭＡＳ３」２７００トンです。８日午後１１時半ごろ奄美大島の名瀬港の北西およそ３０キロの海上で、機関故障のため救助要請し９日朝から巡視船が曳航していましたが９日午前１１時前、台風による波の影響で曳航のロープが切れたということです。乗組員の日本人７人とインドネシア人２人の合わせて９人はヘリで救助され、けがはありませんでした。海上保安部は今後、天候を見てあらためて自動車運搬船の曳航に取り掛かる方針です。

　沖縄県・伊良部島（宮古島市）近海の浅瀬で、昨年１月に座礁したモンゴル船籍の小型タンカーＴＪ88（99トン）が船体を傾けたまま放置されている。ダイビングスポットも近いコバルトブルーの海の景観を害しており、台風などの影響で動きだせば思わぬ被害も出かねない。しかし「所有者と連絡が取れない」（海上保安庁）状態で、撤去の見通しは立っていない。ＴＪ88はシンガポールへ航行中の昨年１月14日、強風にあおられて浅瀬に乗り上げ、ミャンマー人乗員７人のうち１人が死亡、１人が行方不明となった。海保がシンガポール在住の所有者に船体の撤去を指導したが、その後連絡が取れなくなった。海保は「継続的に電話しているが、担当者に取り次いでくれない」と漏らす。宮古島海上保安署によると、ＴＪ88は伊良部島の北方の岩礁にはまったまま波をかぶっており、巡視船が定期的に監視。油の流出はないが、事故からしばらくたっても「船が乗り上げている」という観光客からの１１８番が数回あった。

＜沖縄県・伊良部島近海の浅瀬に放置されているモンゴル船籍の小型タンカーＴＪ88＞

座礁したままのタンカー船＝５日、 伊良部島沖

　伊良部島白鳥崎沖合で昨年１月に起きた外国船籍タンカーの座礁事故で、 座礁したモンゴル船籍 「ＴＪ88」 の船体が、 事故から１年余り経過した現在も岩礁に乗りあげたままになっている。 海上保安署や沖縄総合事務局によると、 所有者と連絡が不通になり、 撤去の目途が立っていないという。 このまま進展がなければ最終的に県が撤去することになり、 多額の負担を強いられる。 また漁業被害や観光立県としてイメージダウンも懸念される。

　　宮古島海上保安署によると、 昨年８月に第11管区海上保安本部がシンガポールの所有者に撤去を求めた際に、 「保険で撤去する」 意向を伝えられたというが、 それ以降、 連絡が取れない状況にあるという。

　所有者が撤去しない場合、 最終的には漂着先の都道府県が費用を負担し解体することになる。 撤去にかかる費用は現場の地形や船の大きさ等にもよるが、 同船の場合は１０００万円以上かかるという。

　船体は岩礁に挟まった状態で固定措置などはとられていない。事故当時、船体から燃料等の流出があったが、 現在は確認されていない。

　同船が座礁した現場付近は伊良部の漁師たちの漁場やダイビングスポットとなっており、 複数の関係者は「今は油の流出等の心配はないがサンゴも相当傷ついている。 漁業への被害や２次災害も心配」 と不安視し、 一日も早く撤去されることを願っていた。

　また、 観光客にもマイナスのイメージを与えている。 近くには観光名所もあり、 展望台からは傾いて波にさらわれている船体が間近に見えるため、 海上保安署には、 観光客から 「船が座礁している」 との 「通報」 が月に１、 ２回はあるという。 近くで農作業していた男性は 「景観を損ねており、 知らない人が見たらどれだけ不安になるだろうか。 観光地としてのイメージダウンになるので早期に撤去してほしい」 と話していた。

　同船は日本から海外へ売船されたもので、 横浜からシンガポールに向けて航行中に座礁した。

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained a little tanker ship on Friday December 28th, 2012 registered in Mongolia on suspicion of smuggling diesel out of Malaysia and selling it in nearby countries.

There are 4 Indonesian nationals who were arrested after 200,000 litres of diesel fuel was found to be on board the Prattahorn. Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency naval authorities put the value of the diesel fuel at RM3.6 m (US $1.2 m) even though it seems a very high figure.

Suspicions were aroused by соме members of the public who were witnesses of fuel transfer from road tankers to the vessel.

The vessel was detained by an MMEA patrol in Teluk Sengat, off Johor state. The tanker ship's owner hasn't been reported in the official statement and the vessel couldn't be found on the database.

By Michael Kohn (AFP)

ULAN BATOR — Inside a small office in Mongolia’s capital Ulan Bator, Banzaragchaa Altan-Od fields calls from ship captains and ports around the globe — an unusual job for someone in a landlocked nation.

The Mongolian Maritime Administration, based in a city located about 1,400 kilometres (850 miles) from the nearest ocean port, has registered more than 1,600 ships since it opened its doors in 2003.

For shipping companies, using the Mongolian flag of convenience is a good bargain, as registry fees are five to 10 percent lower than the going market rate, administration chief Altan-Od told AFP in an interview.

For the impoverished Asian country, the office is an unlikely moneymaker, raking about 350,000 dollars into state coffers a year.

“This is only the beginning of our business operations. We are going to expand our operations and focus on offering quality services,” said Altan-Od, who studied maritime law for two years in Sweden.

Shipping companies that fly Mongolia’s red, blue and yellow banner enjoy special tax breaks and reduced tariffs, the registry office says.

More than 300 ships from over 40 countries are currently on the books after others dropped off for various reasons, including failing to meet safety standards or being scrapped or sunk.

The operation is headquartered in Ulan Bator but registries are handled by the Singapore-based classification company Sovereign Ventures.

Altan-Od says his ultimate goal is to open a duty-free area in the eastern Chinese port of Tianjin — 800 kilometres from the Mongolian border.

“We are doing business with the Chinese to expand our maritime methods,” he said. “Hopefully this new port will be open by 2012.”

Such an arrangement would also allow resource-rich Mongolia to send its own exports — coal, copper and other minerals — to markets around the globe. The port would also allow Mongolia to import oil from overseas.

Mongolia's biggest shipping client so far is Japan, with 54 ships registered. Other important clients include Singapore with 42 vessels, Indonesia with 24 and Cambodia with 23. The list includes 23 oil tankers.

The country’s unusual relationship with the distant sea is nothing new.

It once had a massive navy when Kublai Khan ruled the Mongolian empire more than 700 years ago, and Marco Polo sailed from China back to Europe on a ship with the Mongolian seal.

The imperial navy came to a quick end in 1281 when a typhoon wiped out almost the entire fleet of 4,000 ships as they attempted to invade Japan. About 100,000 Mongolian soldiers perished in the storm.

It has not been all smooth sailing for the ship registry either, with two ships lost last month. In both incidents, one off the coast of India and the other in the Malacca Straits, overloading was cited as the cause.

It also is battling an image problem, with rampant allegations that Mongolia-flagged ships were involved in trafficking illegal goods, and the seizure of a ship in Malaysia in 2007, but Altan-Od refutes the claims.

“There are a lot of stories in the news saying that Mongolia is involved in smuggling. But we are not involved in any illegal acts. All our agreements specifically state that we do not tolerate smuggling on our crafts,” he said.

The ship registry is responsible for ensuring the sea worthiness of vessels and is also supposed to enforce maritime treaties to ensure they are not polluting the oceans, smuggling goods or conducting any other illegal activities.

Altan-Od notes that his office earlier this year axed its one and only North Korean ship over political and commercial concerns.

“We had one ship from North Korea but we decided to drop it. We want to avoid any political confrontations,” he said.

HONG KONG, Friday, Oct. 20 — When helicopter-borne Australian commandos stormed a freighter three years ago after it was spotted unloading 110 pounds of high-grade heroin, the ship proved to be registered in Tuvalu, a tiny island nation in the South Pacific.

When a Spanish warship stopped a freighter carrying cement to Yemen four years ago, the cargo vessel turned out to be carrying 15 Scud missiles as well and was registered in Cambodia.

The two freighters had something in common: although registered elsewhere, both were owned by North Korea.

The incidents illustrated North Korea’s adroit use of so-called flags of convenience to camouflage the movement of its cargo vessels as they engage in tasks that sometimes violate international laws.

The North Korean ploy could both simplify and complicate the efforts to carry out the United Nations Security Council’s resolution authorizing countries to inspect cargo entering or leaving North Korea to see if it includes illicit weapons, say shipping executives, lawyers and security experts.

The use of flags of convenience could also weaken moves like Australia’s on Monday to ban North Korean-flagged vessels from its ports to protest the nuclear test.

But if Western nations suspect that a North Korean-owned vessel flying another country’s flag is carrying illicit weapons, boarding the vessel could be simpler than if it carried North Korea’s flag, said Jonathan D. Pollack, professor of Asian and Pacific studies at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I.

A Western nation could ask the country that registered the vessel for permission to board it even if the vessel was not entering or leaving North Korean waters. Practically any country would be more cooperative about giving permission for a search than North Korea, Mr. Pollack noted.

A North Korean crew might still resist boarding, however. The crew of the Tuvalu-registered freighter, the Pong Su, did so when chased by Australian forces for four days in 2003 before it was finally boarded and captured by the commandos.

But Mr. Pollack and other experts said that flags of convenience could still prove useful to North Korea in maintaining its arms trade despite the Security Council resolution.

One possibility would be for North Korea to try to smuggle out weapons or weapons components across its land borders with China or Russia, and then to a Chinese or Russian port. The weapons could then be loaded on a vessel secretly owned by North Korea but flying another country’s flag — and perhaps not be closely watched by Western intelligence services as a result.

Or weapons could be loaded on a North Korean ship flying its own flag, and the registration of the ship could be altered after it left port. “In the middle of the night, they could change the name and change the flag,” said Gary Wolfe, a maritime lawyer at Seward & Kissel, a New York law firm.

Still another possibility, shipping and security experts said, would be for a North Korean-flagged ship to transfer cargo to a North Korean ship carrying another flag, either in port or in midocean if it were a calm day and the cargo small enough.

Changing the registration of a ship — and therefore its flag — is fairly simple. A ship owner simply sends the necessary paperwork to a country’s ship registry, along with a fee of as little as $1,000. The vessel is not required to visit the country where it is registered, or even go to port.

Ship registries do require basic information about a vessel’s length and tonnage. So if a ship of a certain size and displacement disappears from one ship’s registry and a vessel of equal size and displacement pops up with a different name on another registry at the same time, they may be the same ship and could be identified with careful sleuthing, Mr. Wolfe said.

The Pong Su sailed from North Korea to Singapore in 2003 under a North Korean flag. The vessel then switched its registration to Tuvalu and sailed on to Australia, where witnesses saw a dinghy coming ashore with what proved to be the shipment of heroin.

The freighter was seized and later used as a bombing target by the Australian armed forces as a warning to drug traffickers. The North Korean government denied that it had been involved.

Without specifically mentioning flags of convenience, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned on Wednesday of the difficulty of monitoring North Korea’s trade. “There’s so much moving around the world by land, sea and air that it is practically impossible — not impossible, but certainly it would take a lot of countries cooperating with a high degree of cohesion,” and cohesion has been lacking, he said during a question-and-answer period at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Alabama.

Until 2002, North Korea tended to register its ships as Cambodian, using a registration office that the Cambodian government had authorized in Singapore. Marcus Hand, the Asia editor for Lloyd’s List, a shipping industry newspaper, said dozens of North Korean ships used to carry the Cambodian flag.

He cautioned, however, that it is often difficult to know with certainty who owns a ship, since ships are often held through various companies registered all over the world. No one outside North Korea really knows for sure how many cargo vessels the country has registered under other flags.

Cambodia canceled the right of its Singapore agents to register ships in 2002 after finding that Cambodian-registered ships were in such poor condition that ports were reluctant to let them berth, and after France accused a Cambodian-registered ship and its crew of transporting cocaine. The government of Cambodia ended up authorizing representatives in Pusan, South Korea, to manage the country’s ship registry.

Charlie Bach, the managing director of the overhauled International Ship Registry of Cambodia, said in an e-mail message that there were no longer any North Korean ships carrying the Cambodian flag.

The mystery lies in where North Korea’s ships are registered instead.

Several shipping executives said they believed that North Korean ships were sailing under Mongolian and Tuvaluan flags now.

The Tuvalu ship registry said Friday in an e-mail statement that it had been reorganized in May 2004 and had no vessels previously on North Korean or Cambodian registries.

Down an avenue named after Genghis Khan, up to the third floor of a Soviet-era government ministry and down a creaking wooden hallway, its carpet frayed and faded with the dust and the sun of the steppes, one office door has a freshly minted sign: Maritime Administration. In a one-room office, with whirring computers, a fax machine at the ready and model ships for d馗or, two civil servants oversee the Mongolia Ship Registry, an international service that offers quite competitive fees and no restrictions on the ownership of any ship.

Mongolia, the world's largest landlocked country, with its capital almost 1,000 miles from an ocean beach, is the latest entry in the business of flags of convenience. With Mongolia's red, yellow and blue colors now flying on 260 ships at sea, this unlikely venture is part business, part comedy and part international intrigue. "We earned the treasury about $200,000 last year," Bazarragchaa Altan-Od, head of the Maritime Administration, said, slightly tense for his first interview with the world press. "We have 20 to 30 new registrations every month. The number is increasing."

With new international shipping security rules going into effect on July 1, some shippers may see the newest flag of convenience as one that does not yet set off alarm bells. The new rules require that ships and ports adopt verifiable, uniform security plans. Intended to prevent hijackings of large vessels for terrorist attacks, the rules are promoted by the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations body with no enforcement powers. The United States Coast Guard has said it will check compliance by boarding selected major ships approaching American ports.

Mongolian flags are not expected to become a common sight at American docks. But it was an unexpected twist of fate that brought Mongolia, a nation of nomadic herders, to the high seas.

In the 1980's, a Mongolian university student known only as Ganbaatar won a scholarship to study fish farming in the Soviet Union. But the state functionary filling out his application put down the course code as 1012, instead of 1013. As he later told Robert Stern, producer of a documentary on the Mongolian Navy, that bureaucratic error detoured him from fish farming to deep-sea fishing. Upon graduation, he was sent to work with the seven-man Mongolian Navy, which patrolled the nation's largest lake, Hovsgol. The lone ship, a tug boat, had been hauled in parts across the steppes, assembled on a beach and launched in 1938. After the collapse of Communism here in 1990, Ganbaatar wrote Mongolia's new maritime law, which took effect in 1999.

The registry opened for business in February, 2003. Perhaps to play down any negative connotations of being landlocked, the glossy color brochure of the Mongolia Ship Registry shows Mongolia surrounded on three sides by a light blue blob that, on closer inspection, turns out to be China. One clue to the international intrigue behind the registry may be in plans to reopen the North Korean Embassy here this fall.

Sovereign Ventures, a Singapore-based classification company handles the Mongolia Ship Registry, and Chong Koy Sen handles the business. "We are going quite well," Mr. Chong said in a phone interview, before asking that questions be sent by e-mail. Two e-mail messages were not answered. According to Lloyd's List, the maritime trade publication, Capt. Chong is a major shareholder in Korasia Shipping and Trading, Sovereign Ventures and the Cambodia Shipping Corporation. Founded in 1986, Korasia operates ships for North Korea and, through Sovereign Ventures, explores for oil and gas in North Korea.

The Cambodia Shipping Corporation registered foreign vessels - many of them North Korean - for Cambodia, until 2002, when the French Navy seized the Winner, a Cambodia flag cargo ship, for cocaine smuggling. The seizure, the latest in a series of mishaps for Cambodian flag vessels, prompted the Cambodian government to cancel its contract with Cambodia Shipping.

Mongolia's maritime niche may be North Korea, which has revived relations in recent months with the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, the former Communist party here. (On June 27, after a parliamentary election campaign that included corruption accusations against the government, the opposition Motherland Democratic Coalition unexpectedly won 36 of 76 seats. A final outcome is not expected until early July.) North Korea flag vessels increasingly are watched around the world. Under the Proliferation Security Initiative, the United States and a dozen nations started to monitor North Korean vessels in 2003 for illicit cargos, like drugs, missiles or nuclear weapon fuel.

In 2003, Japan, traditionally an important trading partner of North Korea, adopted a policy of stringent safety and customs checks of North Korean flag vessels visiting Japanese ports. As a result of this enforcement, the number of port calls by North Korean flag vessels to Japan in 2003 plummeted by 29 percent, hitting 1,007. At the same time, port calls by Mongolian flag vessels jumped in Japan. In April and May, there were 115 port calls by Mongolian flag vessels, almost five times the 24 registered in April and May of 2003.

Here at the one-room office of the Maritime Administration, the cheerful tropical fish and coral calendars were not enough to break the tension caused by a question about flagging ships from North Korea. "Within international agreements, some countries have friendly relationships with Mongolia," Mr. Altan-Od said. He declined to specify where most registered vessels were from, but did note that "we have one to two American ships." With or without North Korean vessels, critics say Mongolia is registering anything that floats and can pay the fee.

Mongolia "is indicative of the larger, growing trend of the weakening of the nation state on the high seas," William Langewiesche, author of "The Outlaw Sea: A World of Freedom, Chaos, and Crime," a new book, said in a phone interview. Over the last 25 years, he said, the use of flags of convenience has grown from a small portion of the roughly 40,000 large vessels at sea "to account for a large percentage of shipping worldwide, over half."

Last Nov. 21, 13 Russian sailors were rescued from the Fest, a Mongolian-flag ship loaded with logs that was sinking in the Sea of Japan. In 20-foot high waves, the ship's main engine had failed. "That ship was 40 years old, it was too old and should not have been registered," said Damba Baigalmaa, deputy director of Mongolia's Maritime Administration, noting Mongolia's policy of not registering ships over 30 years old.

Also in November, Irish police boarded the MV Unique, a Mongolian-flag vessel that had been moving around the high seas of Europe for one month without apparent destination or cargo. Although an international police task force suspected that the ship was involved in moving illegal immigrants into Britain, Irish detectives did not find evidence of wrongdoing. On Dec. 9, the Indonesian Navy seized the Mongolian-flagged MV Bravery Falcon for not having any documentation to prove that its load of 17,000 cubic meters of tropical hardwood had been legally logged. "Unfortunately, there were a few Mongolian-flag ships that sank," the prime minister of Mongolia, Nambaryn Enkhbayar, said when asked about the incidents. "We have to improve, so this becomes a good company for us," he said, referring to the ship registry.

The Mongolian Sea-Lovers Association, a civic group that gathers mainly to discuss maritime policy, dreams of the day when Mongolia will have its own merchant marine, tying up at a Mongolian-owned duty-free zone at Tianjin, China, about 500 miles by rail from Mongolia's southeast border. Critics say that safety is the victim of an international shipping system that leaves enforcement of international rules to the countries that register vessels and to the ports where they drop anchor.

Countries "can become 'flag nations' for ships, usually by employing an agent who 'certifies' that the ships carrying a Mongolia flag, for example, meet all the international rules," said Jim Carrier, author of "The Ship and the Storm," an account of the sinking of the Fantome in Hurricane Mitch, in 1998 off Honduras. Thirty-one sailors drowned with the Fantome, a yacht flagged by Equatorial Guinea. "Shipping companies simply send a check to a country, and, in return, get the paperwork to allow a ship with a Mongolian flag to go into any port in the world," Mr. Carrier, a trans-Atlantic sailor, said in a phone interview. "Usually these ships avoid the tougher countries, however, and roam the world uninspected, leaking, polluting, sinking time bombs for the sailors aboard."

Mr. Langewiesche, whose "Outlaw Sea" came out in the spring, cautioned, "It is important not to draw a mechanical linkage between dangerous ships and this flag." "Given the range of flags available, those interested in Mongolia are not interested in maintaining ships, in sailing well," he said. "But to say that Mongolians should not have ships flying their flag is also unfair."

For a country without a coastline, having ships sail under Mongolia’s flag has always been a little bit of mystery to most. Ships started to fly the Mongolian flag during the socialist times in Mongolia with help from the Russians, but now the Mongolians government is having second thoughts about the quality of their “fleet.”

The members of the Mongolian Parliamentary Standing Committees approved on Tuesday a ratifying a new protocol for the renovation of the 1969 international convention on civil responsibilities to be assumed for damage caused in the oceans by the oil transporting tankers. Under the 1969 convention, to which Mongolia joined in 1969, in case the oil transporting ships cause damage to the oceans the respective country, whose flag is used by the ships, bears responsibilities. Under the new protocol, the responsible will be not the countries, whose flags are used by foreign ships, but the registration and insurance companies.

Mongolia might want to look into what sorts of ships want to fly their flag, and if those ships have been rejected licenses from other nations. If Mongolia cannot vouch for the quality of the ships’ crews or the safety and reliability of the vessels, they must reconsider allowing any ships to use their flag.

The Mongolian Ship Registry was a baby of the MPRP to increase foreign investment, and an internet search reveals that Mongolia is considered a, “Flag of Convenience,” because it lacks all restrictions to register and obtain a license.

Registration of a vessel under the Mongolian Flag offers various benefits amongst which Low registration tax, Low annual tonnage & radio tax. The ship owning company is also exempted from the payment of income tax any other forms of taxation. There are no further costs and taxes besides the aforementioned, both on registration and also annually.

The Mongolian Registry also doesn’t impose any restrictions of the nationality of crew members.

Also, “Certificates of registration are issued within an hour after documents are faxed to registry headquarters in a third country.”

This program sounds suspicious at best, and now that the current government, run by the MPRP, is pulling out of all legal responsibility, these matters should be investigated further.

The Mongolia Ship Registry Pte Ltd, which was registered in Singapore just over a year ago, became operational last week with half a dozen vessels registered and 20 applications pending, according to its deputy registrar, Capt Johnathan Foong.

The company is targetting between half to one million gross tonnes of ships under flag by the year-end, although Capt Foong says it is emphasising quality over quantity.

When asked why such a substantially land-locked country like Mongolia would want to venture into the world of international shipping, Capt Foong said: 'It doesn't matter (that the country is land-locked), because it is given the right by the United Nations to fly the Mongolia flag and transit international waters, so why not Mongolia?

'And now with a democratic process and capitalism in Mongolia this is one way of encouraging foreign exchange earnings,' he added.

But when probed as to whether the Mongolian registry was set to sail the dubious flags of convenience waters reviled by many for their notorious harbouring of substandard vessels and shady business operations, he was unequivocal.

'We are not a fly-by-night company or flag of convenience which are all out to make money,' he said. 'We are a very strict regime because this ship registry is run directly by the government.

'We assess all ships before admitting them into the registry because we are very fussy on the kinds of ships we allow in. We check the background of the ships, their condition, age, past survey records, port detention rates and also the owner is very important because we don't want any terrorist or drug smuggler,' Capt Foong said.

He also noted the company has agreements with major classification societies like the American Bureau of Shipping, Bureau Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd, Det Norske Veritas and Lloyd's Register of Shipping, among others, to survey and issue statutory certificates to Mongolian flagged vessels.

The registry's existence came to light when an e-mail was sent to clients of the now disgraced Cambodian registry after the Cambodian government announced it was cancelling the contract of the Singapore-based Cambodian Shipping Corporation (CSC) Pte Ltd.

This move came about after the Cambodian-flagged cargo ship Winner was seized by the French Navy last year for alleged cocaine smuggling.

In the e-mail CSC's executive director Ng Eng Choon said: 'To assist all our loyal and supportive owners in avoiding detentions due to invalid ship's documents, we recommend owners to consider transferring their vessels to the Mongolia Registry.'

While Capt Foong says there is no direct connection between the Cambodian and Mongolian registers, he said he had done some consultancy work for the Cambodian registry prior to joining Mongolia, but insisted the two registries are independent of each other.

While he said the company is a joint venture between the Mongolian government and an unspecified Singapore businessman, Registry of Companies data shows no Mongolian directors or officers in the company.

Published March 12, 2003

天津税関輯私局がこのほど国内沿海で行った輸送船舶の検査で、天津新港でコークス1500トン（400万元相当）を積載したある貨物船が、港湾監督部門に目的地を上海と申請しながら、実際には韓国に向かっていたのが見つかった。同船は許可証を受けておらず、密輸の疑いがもたれている。

これまでの調査によると、同船のもつ船舶営業運輸証の営業範囲は「国内沿海および長江中下流域の各港間の普通貨物船による運輸」に限られている。同船は、国内関連機関の検査に対応するため、国内港湾監督部門のスタンプと偽造印を使用し、虚偽の航海日誌と運行日誌を作成していた。また、海外からニセの外国船舶証明書を購入したほか、中国の積出港海事局が発行する「国際航行船舶出口岸許可証」も偽造しており、課税対象の輸出貨物を国内から無許可で海外に運び出したあと、外国の港湾ではモンゴル籍の船舶と偽って申請を行い、税関の監督や管理を逃れて密輸を行った。（編集KS）