UAE cracks down on Cameroon flag

Ships flagged with Cameroon face restrictions when calling in the Middle East.

The United Arab Emirates has added the Cameroon flag to its growing list of flag states it has a dim view about. Unless Cameroon-flagged ships are classed by a member of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) or by the Emirates classification society, Tasneef, they will be barred from entering Emirati waters with local maritime service providers told not to have any dealings with these blacklisted ships. 

Splash has reported repeatedly on how the Cameroon register has grown in tandem with the dark fleet of tankers over the last couple of years – a slice of the global merchant fleet that is sanctions busting and causing grave concern for port states over safety risks associated with this ageing part of the fleet. The flag of Cameroon is also blacklisted by the Paris MoU on Port State Control. 

The latest assessment of what it terms as the grey tanker fleet by French brokers puts the number of ships at 675 units, equating to 7.4% of the global tanker fleet. 

“Considering that the average age of these ships is 21 while their certification and insurance is opaque, we consider that these tankers are the most worrisome from an environmental and regulatory perspective,” BRS stated in its latest weekly tanker report. 

Other flag states on the UAE’s blacklist include Albania, Belize, North Korea, Sao Tome and Principe, Tonga, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania. 

The UAE’s tough stance on certain flags with links to the shadow fleet stands at odds with how Dubai has been central to operations for Russia’s tanker fleets over the last two years since Moscow launched its war in Ukraine.