According to Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang, Equatorial Guinea has suspended over 300 fishing vessels for fraudulently flying its flag.
Only 20 of the 368 vessels fishing under the Equato-guinean flag were registered with the Ministry of Transport and the International Maritime Organization, according to him.
“The remainder has been suspended due to fraud. The following step will be to implement control and contract acquisition policies for the legal use of our flag “On Thursday, he made a tweet.
This is not the first time the country has taken action against ships flying its flag illegally.
Equatorial Guinea suspended 395 vessels in April 2022 for sailing illegally under its flag.
It came after the sinking of the fishing vessel Xelo in Tunisian territorial waters.
The vessel, which was allegedly flying the Equatorial Guinea flag, sank under suspicious circumstances, prompting the country to file a criminal complaint against the vessel’s owners.
Mr. Obiang Mangue then sought international assistance and urged other countries to report vessels flying the Equatorial Guinea flag illegally.
