African flag states have seen sharp growth this year, amid a surge in Western sanctions targeting vessels flying their flags
According to Clarksons’ World Fleet Monitor, by the end of September 2025 the total gross tonnage of ships registered under African flags had increased by almost 10%. Benin, Gambia, Comoros and Guinea led the surge, with increases of 499,997%, 574%, 180% and 76%, respectively.
Only a few African flag states recorded declines – Djibouti was down 38%, Guinea-Bissau fell 5%, and several smaller registries dropped by around 25%. Tanzania’s flag registry has remained broadly unchanged since the start of the year.
A growing number of vessels under these flags have already been targeted by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom in connection with sanctions on Russia. An examination by Riviera of the EU’s 19th sanctions package – which designated 117 vessels – shows that ships flagged to Sierra Leone, Gambia, the Comoros, São Tomé, Guinea-Bissau, Gabon, Djibouti and Liberia have all been sanctioned.
Windward’s Q3 report also highlights the Comoros as one of the top three registries used by the dark fleet, alongside Russia and Panama.
Furthermore, Gambia entered the top 10 dark fleet registries for the first time in 2025. Together with Sierra Leone, these two registries have displaced Barbados, Gabon and the Cook Islands – flag states whose maritime authorities have adopted stricter policies to delete Western-sanctioned vessels, according to Windward.
Excluding the national flags of Iran and Russia, the top three registries used by sanctioned vessels in Q3 2025 were Comoros, Gambia and Sierra Leone.
False flags on the rise
Windward further reports the number of vessels operating under false flags increased by 22% in Q3 2025, underscoring what it called “the continued expansion of fraudulent registry activity.” By the end of Q3, the total number of falsely flagged vessels had doubled since January.
The firm also identified four new fraudulent registries – Tonga, Maldives, Mozambique and Angola.
Equasis data, which tracks global ship ownership and registration, also revealed several vessels recently sanctioned by the EU were registered under false Comoros and Sint Maarten flags.
“Western governments have pressured countries that outsource their ship registries to private operators to remove sanctioned vessels,” Windward explained. “This has triggered record levels of flag-hopping and a growing shift toward fraudulent registries.”
