Cook Islands Politicians Question Role Supporting Shadow Fleet
The Cook Islands as a registry of ships has become one of the topics of the reporting on the shadow fleet of tankers servicing the Russian oil industry. Now politicians in the small Pacific Island nation are questioning their role in the shadow fleet and how the reporting is impacting the image of the nation.
After repeated news reports highlighting vessels registered in the country, the Cook Island News reports it became the issue of questions during last week’s parliamentary meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport responding. They asserted that nothing illegal was happening, but they would investigate the allegations.
According to the newspaper, Opposition Leader Tina Browne asked the Ministry of Transport to respond to the reports that vessels registered in the Cook Islands have been “arrested overseas” on allegations of transporting arms to Russia or involvement in the shadow fleet. She cited media reports of 18 vessels having been detained, questioning if it was “giving us a very bad name out there?”
Deputy Prime Minister Albert Nichols responded saying that they had not been able to find anything on the alleged 18 vessels while noting that the names of the ships had not been supplied. The Cook Islands News reports he assured parliament that if there were any merit to the allegations “rightful steps” would be taken.
The tanker Eagle S which was detained for over 50 days in Finland after the Christmas Day incident with the undersea cables is registered in the Cook Islands. The vessel was transferred to the Cook Islands’ vessel registry in July 2023 and its registered owners are listed as a company in Dubai. In addition, the U.S. sanctioned four tankers registered in the Cook Islands in its sweeping January 2025 package.
The Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of the Cook Islands said it is well aware of the situation and is taking the global media coverage “very seriously.” The government has repeatedly denied the allegations that Maritime Cook Islands has become a haven for Russian-linked tankers. It says that they comply with international sanctions. Maritime Cook Islands is an outside manager employed to administer the registry.
The Cook Islands however maintains an open registry with the media reports stating it added over seven million DWT of tankers and became a top 30 registry in 2024. The Ministry said it had not expected the number of vessels in the registry to increase so dramatically noting it is currently over 780 foreign vessels.
They asserted that there are no illegal operators as vessels have either been deregistered or have voluntarily removed themselves from the registry. A dozen tankers were removed from the registry in July 2024 for violations. Nicholas responded to Browne asking for some time to conduct a review and said if the allegations were proven to be accurate then there would be an investigation and appropriate actions taken.