Landlocked Zimbabwe has become the latest African nation to flag a false registry to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Zimbabwe has let the UN body know it has no registry or maritime authority, after a flag hopping aframax was linked to the nation.
The 2005-built Range Vale, which database Equasis lists as owned by Range Maritime Services & Trading in St Kitts & Nevis, has been listed with the false flags of Comoros, Zimbabwe, and currently Sierra Leone over the past five months. The ship is currently heading south through the Suez Canal with Singapore listed as its destination.
Splash reported yesterday Madagascar warning of a surge in fraudulent ship registrations after its authorities identified nine vessels using flag state documents in the country’s name.
Throughout 2025, more than 300 shadow fleet tankers involved in sanctioned Iranian, Venezuelan, or Russian oil trades shifted to fraudulent flags, often after repeated flag hopping, according to data from maritime analytics firm Windward.
Windward data shows approximately 120 Russia-trading tankers over 180 m in length broadcasting flags from 19 fraudulent registries, including Botswana, Guyana, Guinea, and Madagascar.
Splash has reported repeatedly in recent years on the sudden growth of many African registries in line with the growth of the shadow fleet moving Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan cargoes around the world.
Last week, Splash reported that Cameroon’s government has started to clamp down on shadow ships using its register.
TankerTrackers.com data shows Cameroon is the third largest flag for the shadow fleet.
