Vanuatu’s international shipping registry has removed three fishing vessels from its list after the ships were fined by Argentine authorities for illegal fishing in the South Atlantic, the registry said, marking the latest step in a wider crackdown on IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing by the Vanuatu International Shipping Registry (VISR).
The three vessels — Bao Feng, Hai Xing 2 and Bao Win — were previously approved for registration by the Vanuatu Fisheries Department on June 6, 2024, four months before the current VISR administration took charge in October 2024. VISR Administrator Saade Makhlouf said the removals reflect the new administration’s tougher approach to compliance and the need to shield the Vanuatu flag from further regulatory or reputational harm. “The current administration inherited a system requiring significant strengthening and has acted decisively,” Makhlouf said. “Vanuatu takes IUU risks seriously, and vessels exposing the flag to repeated regulatory or reputational risk will not be allowed to remain under the registry.”
Since assuming responsibility, VISR has introduced a suite of compliance measures aimed at reducing IUU exposure. Those reforms include a declared zero-tolerance policy for IUU fishing, mandatory disclosure of vessel ownership, 24-hour incident reporting obligations, and a pre-approval requirement for any new fishing vessel seeking Vanuatu’s flag. VISR officials also said the registry now maintains round-the-clock monitoring of flagged vessels and can act under expanded powers granted by amendments to the Maritime Act in 2025. Makhlouf noted, however, that the national Vessel Monitoring System remains the responsibility of the Fisheries Department.
Marine traffic and registry data identify Hai Xing 2 as a 58.88-metre vessel with a deadweight tonnage of 737, while Bao Win is listed at 59 metres with a carrying capacity of about 696 tonnes and is currently operating in the open South Atlantic. Specifications for Bao Feng remain unconfirmed. The incoming registry paperwork published in Vanuatu shows the June 6, 2024 approval for all three vessels; records also indicate Bao Win’s build year as 2025, an apparent chronological inconsistency that VISR said would be investigated further.
The removals follow fines imposed by Argentine authorities after inspections and enforcement actions in South Atlantic waters. VISR stopped short of detailing the amounts of the fines or the precise infractions cited by Argentina, but officials made clear the registry would not shield vessels facing foreign enforcement action that undermined the flag’s standing. Makhlouf said the registry’s actions aim to rebuild confidence among states, port authorities and regional fisheries bodies that Vanuatu will uphold international obligations.
The move places VISR among a growing number of flags tightening oversight to meet international expectations on fisheries compliance and flag-state responsibility. For Vanuatu, which has relied in recent years on ship registrations as an economic activity, the latest measures signal a shift toward prioritising reputation and regulatory integrity over registration volume. Fisheries and maritime stakeholders will watch to see whether the VISR’s reforms lead to further deregistrations or new checks on vessels already flying the Vanuatu flag.
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