Police investigation on ships claiming to be registered in Fiji using falsified documents are continuing, says Fiji Police Force spokesperson Ana Naisoro.

She says when their investigation is completed than they will decide on the charges to be laid.

The Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF) has notified the Fiji Police Force and Tokyo MOU about ships claiming to be registered in Fiji using falsified documents.

“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,” MSAF CEO, John Tunidau said.

According to Mr Tunidau an open registry is a practice where foreign ship owners register their ship in another State.

While the investigation is continuing a report from North Korea News said that the number of ships with links to the DPRK was using the Fijian flags.

She said they were unaware of this report.

A report from the UN said that some DPRK vessels were known as using a flag of convenience (FOC) a tactic used to disguise their origins.

According to the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea there must exist a genuine link between a ship and a flag State and conscious of the duties of the flag State to exercise effectively its jurisdiction and control over ships flying its flag in accordance with the principle of the genuine link.

It adds that in order to exercise its control function effectively a flag State should ensure that those who are responsible for the management and operation of a ship on its register are readily identifiable and accountable.