Avarua, Cook Islands – 3 June 2025 – Maritime Cook Islands (MCI) is reinforcing its commitment to comply with the international maritime standards and its proactive stance against illicit shipping practices, including those associated with “shadow fleets.” MCI operates with full transparency, ensuring the integrity and compliance of all vessels registered under its flag.

Our Commitment to Maritime Integrity

The term “shadow fleet” often refers to vessels engaged in illicit activities to circumvent sanctions, particularly those related to the G7, EU, and Australian price cap on Russian petroleum products. The Cook Islands Register strictly adheres to international sanctions and regulatory frameworks. Furthermore, since December 2024, MCI has flagged no vessels trading in Russian petroleum products. Any flagged vessels engaged in such trade prior to that date were rigorously verified to comply with the Price Cap requirements. A clear example of this adherence is the Eagle S, which was found to be in compliance by Finnish authorities and subsequently released with its full cargo.

Advanced Monitoring and Strict Compliance

MCI maintains a comprehensive monitoring system that ensures regulatory compliance of its flagged fleet. While MCI’s access to the Registry Information Sharing Compact (RISC) was recently suspended, this has not impacted our oversight capabilities. Our internal systems, coupled with subscriptions to advanced platforms such as Sentroweb, Purpletrac, and Seasearcher, enable continuous and thorough due diligence and vessel monitoring. We also regularly track international sanction lists, as well as those from the EU, UK, and OFAC. 

Integral to MCI’s framework are stringent registration requirements:

• All Cook Islands flagged vessels over 500GT must be classed and certified by an IACS (International Association of Classification Societies) member.
• All vessels must be appropriately insured with an MCI-approved insurer, with approval status reviewed annually in accordance with IMO guidelines. These requirements are non-negotiable and are fundamental to ensuring our flagged vessels meet the international safety and environmental standards.

Transparency Through Data

MCI’s commitment to compliance is underscored by its fleet management data:

• Over the past 3.5 years (from 2022 to May 26, 2025), MCI registered 214 tankers.
• Of these, 37 were promptly deleted due to sanctions designations (3 in 2022, 0 in 2023, 27 in 2024, 7 in 2025).
• Beyond sanctioned vessels, 131 tankers were cancelled during the same period due to non-compliance with MCI regulatory system , including holding insurance from insurers that were not renewed approval, or owner-initiated de-registrations.
• Currently, the registry maintains 46 active tankers.
• MCI also actively monitors flagged vessels for trade in Venezuelan and Iranian petroleum products.

These figures clearly demonstrate MCI’s proactive measures in managing its registry, ensuring that non-compliant or sanctioned vessels are expeditiously identified and removed.

Maritime Cook Islands is committed to fostering accurate reporting on maritime compliance issues, providing regular information on its statistics and relevant policy decisions that will be made available to the press through www.maritimecookislands.com.

For all enquiries please contact media@maritimecookislands.com