within Her Majesty’s dominions becomes eligible to fly the British flag, i.e. the
Red Ensign, although it is not obliged to do so. Nor is there any legal constraint on
a British subject or British companies registering ships outside Her Majesty’s
dominions if they wish to do so. All that is necessary is for the requirements of the
recipient register to be met.
There is much variation in the requirements for registration. Some flag states
require the ship to be owned by a national. This is the case in Liberia, but the
requirement is easily met by setting up a Liberian company which qualifies as a
national for the purposes of registration. Panama has no nationality requirements,
while the Greek flag falls somewhere between the two, requiring 50 per cent
ownership by Greek citizens or legal entities.10