An aerial view shows a crude oil tanker at an oil terminal off Waidiao island in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, China, on January 4, 2023. File photo credit: “China Daily” via Reuters.
~ Issue gains momentum months after 2024 exposure ~
By Jacqueline Hooftman
PHILIPSBURG/THE HAGUE--Members of the Dutch House of Representatives have raised urgent questions in Parliament about the fraudulent use of St. Maarten’s name in international ship registration – an issue first reported by “The Daily Herald” more than seven months ago.
The renewed political attention follows a July 20, 2025, exposé by Dutch investigative platform Follow the Money, which revealed that dozens of sanctioned Russian and Iranian oil tankers are operating under falsified maritime flags, including the non-existent ship registry of St. Maarten. The report describes how a Beverly Hills-based company, Maritime Safety and Technical Administration (MSTA), has been selling fake ship registrations and certificates falsely bearing the name and national symbols of St. Maarten.
In response, Members of Parliament (MPs) Jan Paternotte of Democrats ’66 (D66) party and Derk Boswijk of Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) submitted formal questions to Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp and State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Eddie van Marum, asking for clarification on the extent of the deception and what measures are being taken to prevent further abuse. They also raised concerns about the reputational damage to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, given that the fraudulent flags reference constituent countries in the Dutch Kingdom – St. Maarten, Aruba and Curaçao.
While the Follow the Money investigation brought the issue back into national headlines, “The Daily Herald” already reported on the scheme in its December 18, 2024, edition. That article exposed the operations of www.smtaregistry.com, which falsely claimed to represent an official St. Maarten maritime authority under the name “MSTA – International Maritime Registries & Regulatory Inc.” It listed vessels under a fictitious St. Maarten maritime flag and displayed forged certificates featuring the country’s coat of arms.
Despite having a national flag, St. Maarten does not operate a recognised maritime registry. Under Kingdom law, only the Netherlands holds that authority, meaning any claim to register sea-going vessels under a “St. Maarten flag” is automatically invalid.
“The Daily Herald’s” report cited documentation uncovered by Lloyd’s List, including a fraudulent certificate issued for a sanctioned tanker, “Ocean Koi” (IMO: 9255933), formerly known as “Cimarron”. The certificate, dated December 14, 2024, bore the national emblem of St. Maarten, but included numerous typographical errors and was purportedly issued by a fictitious “St. Maarten Islands Maritime Administration”.
Government officials at the time confirmed to “The Daily Herald” that the documents were falsified and that criminal networks in the Middle East, Russia and India were exploiting St. Maarten’s identity to operate so-called “dark fleet” vessels. These ships frequently switch flags to obscure ownership and evade international enforcement.
Maritime law experts note that fraudulent registry schemes often target jurisdictions perceived to have limited enforcement capacity, underdeveloped regulatory frameworks or unclear legal authority. These conditions create an environment where fake operations can thrive with little risk of detection or prosecution.
As a small island nation still developing its regulatory institutions, St. Maarten is particularly vulnerable. Its limited maritime jurisdiction and the widespread international misunderstanding of its legal status make it an attractive target for criminal networks seeking to exploit gaps in oversight.
According to Follow the Money, at least 77 vessels have been issued fake documents by MSTA, including 30 under active international sanctions. Alarmingly, 19 ships adopted the fraudulent St. Maarten flag shortly after being sanctioned, highlighting its appeal as a convenient disguise for illicit operations.
The scandal also casts a shadow over earlier discussions in St. Maarten’s own government. During the 2023 budget debate, then-Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication Arthur Lambriex (United People’s party) disclosed preliminary plans to develop an open maritime register. At the time, he expressed confidence that legislation could be introduced before the end of that year to formalise ship registration under the St. Maarten flag, a move he believed could generate millions in annual revenue.
In Parliament, Lambriex said that he had relied on the advice and expertise of a policy advisor from Curaçao. However, maritime governance in Curaçao had come under international scrutiny in the past.
In 2013, the European Commission issued a formal warning known as a “Yellow Card” to Curaçao for its failure to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The warning cited several deficiencies, including poor oversight of fishing fleets and processing facilities, inadequate vessel monitoring and registration systems, weak legal enforcement and non-compliance with international fisheries agreements.
The warning followed an incident involving a Curaçao-flagged vessel caught fishing illegally in a protected area near the Canary Islands. Curaçao’s Yellow Card was lifted in 2017 after the country took corrective measures to improve its monitoring and compliance systems.
The incident has also drawn attention to the wider practice of “flags of convenience”, long associated with labour abuse, environmental violations and sanction evasion. The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and maritime watchdogs have repeatedly warned that weak or fake registries enable the trafficking of workers, ship abandonment and the concealment of illegal oil trade.
The case underscores both the global vulnerability to maritime fraud and the urgent need for clearer governance and international safeguards. A local official in St. Maarten, speaking to “The Daily Herald”, previously warned, “These groups are making millions, in part from unsuspecting companies registering vessels. The website is fraudulent. Payments disappear in the cloud.”
To date, no legal framework for the registration of ocean-going vessels has been implemented in St. Maarten, and the only existing register today remains a local list of catamaran operators offering tours around the island.
