The Italian Confederation of Shipowners has invited the European Union to strengthen the attractiveness of its maritime flags through regulatory simplification, digitization, certainty and greater operational efficiency, without retreating from the high safety standards. In addition, Confitarma urged that, in comparing ship registers, assessments are based on objective and comparable indicators such as - specified the Confederation - performance in the field of Port State Control, the level of ratification of international conventions and the results of IMO audits. In this sense - Confitarma further specified - the study "Shipping Industry Flag State Performance Table 2025/2026", published by ICS in January 2026 with support of ECSA, represents an essential technical reference for a Transparent and evidence-based assessment ( of 28 January 2026).

With regard to the current landscape of flag states, the Italian shipowners' confederation referred to the "Study on Flag State Responsibilities and Open Registers" published in January by the European Commission itself, which highlights - remembered Confitarma - as an increasing share of the tonnage is now held by the main non-EU global registries - first of all Liberia and then also Panama and the Marshall Islands - which have progressively expanded their impact on the market international. In particular - the Confederation noted - registers such as Liberia and the Marshall Islands have been able to combine in in recent years a strong growth in size with a rigorous attention to the safety of the vessel, investing heavily in the improvement of safety on board. This evolutionary dynamic - has specified Confitarma - is confirmed by concrete actions of compliance: in recent months, these registers have further tightened controls, proceeding with the cancellation and the ejection of units that do not meet the requirements of security or compliance. It is therefore essential - he remarked the Confederation - not to assimilate generically all the open registries, distinguishing between quality and those who, on the contrary, show little attention to the security or propensity to accommodate ejected ships (Shadow Fleet) from other flags because it was used in closed trades to the European fleet by European and international regulations.