The Police Criminal Investigations Department is now investigating cases of ships registered in Fiji through the use of falsified documents.
Police Spokesperson, Ana Naisoro confirms that they have received a report from the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji on the matter and investigations are underway.
According to a statement, the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji has submitted all the information to the Fiji Police Force and the Tokyo MOU which is one of the most active regional port State control organizations in the world.
The organization consists of 19 member Authorities in the Asia‑Pacific region.
The Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji says the Tokyo MOU will disseminate the information to other member states.
CEO, John Tunidau says Fiji has a closed registry and is not an open registry and as such foreign ships claiming Fiji is their Flag state are doing so fraudulently.
An open registry is a practice where foreign ship owners register their ship in another state.
