18 Shipping Nations Warn of Two-Tier Maritime System

A Joint Warning from 18 Maritime Nations

A coalition of 18 shipping nations has issued a joint statement urging closer cooperation and stronger adherence to international maritime rules, cautioning that recent global disruptions expose just how fragile seaborne trade has become. According to a report by The Maritime Executive, the group—known as the Consultative Shipping Group, formed in the 1960s and made up of nations across Europe, Asia, and North America—says the industry is drifting toward a two-tier structure: one segment operating within established regulation, and another growing in the shadows, shaped by sanctions evasion and opacity.

Shadow Fleets, Conflict, and Trade Restrictions

The statement points to the sanctions-evading shadow fleet, ongoing wars, and discriminatory trade measures as forces pulling the industry apart. Rather than calling for a wave of new regulation, the group argues that the real fix is better alignment and enforcement of rules that already exist. It frames maritime transport not merely as a commercial service but as critical infrastructure underpinning food security, energy security, and the broader global economy.

The nations also cite a string of supply chain shocks in recent years—the Panama Canal drought, the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the conflict in the Middle East—as evidence that the system’s resilience is being tested repeatedly. They warn that when countries adopt diverging national or regional approaches instead of supporting multilateral processes, the coherence of the whole system weakens, driving up costs for businesses and, ultimately, consumers.

Leaning on UNCLOS and the IMO

The statement repeatedly references the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as the legal backbone for maritime activity, including rights of innocent and transit passage, and singles out the International Maritime Organization as the primary body for setting global standards on safety, security, and fair competition. The 18 nations commit to applying rules “more consistently and transparently” and call on all maritime nations to support core principles such as freedom of navigation and multilateral governance.

What This Means for Owners and Managers

For ship owners, managers, and charterers, this statement is less about new compliance burdens and more a signal that enforcement gaps—not rulebooks—are the real vulnerability. A widening gap between vessels that operate transparently and those that don’t creates practical risk exposure for compliant operators: port state control scrutiny is intensifying, insurers and financiers are growing more cautious about counterparties and cargo provenance, and charterers face reputational exposure from unwittingly dealing with vessels tied to the shadow fleet.

This is where independent verification becomes more valuable, not less. Bunker surveys, condition surveys, and cargo hold inspections provide an objective paper trail that a vessel and its operations meet stated standards, which matters increasingly when counterparties, flag states, and insurers are trying to distinguish legitimate operators from those exploiting regulatory gaps. As the statement notes, fragmentation in rules leads to fragmentation in markets—and that fragmentation raises the value of documented, third-party evidence that a ship and its cargo operations are what they claim to be.

An Uncertain Path Forward

The group stops short of proposing specific mechanisms for enforcement, instead framing the solution as political will and coordination among “trusted partners” in the maritime supply chain. It closes by warning that continued fragmentation increases the risk of disruption at critical chokepoints—an implicit reference to flashpoints such as the Persian Gulf, where vessels have already found themselves caught up in regional tensions.

Whether this call for cooperation translates into concrete IMO action or enforcement measures remains to be seen. But for an industry already navigating sanctions complexity, war-risk routing, and inconsistent regional rules, the message from these 18 nations is clear: alignment and transparency, not more paperwork, are what will keep the system from splitting further.

Reviewed by Ibrahim Halil Ceylan, Marine Surveyor at Apeks Marine.