Three ships sailing under the flag of Equatorial Guinea were detained in Malaysian maritime waters. This information was announced on July 7 on the Twitter account of the Vice President of Equatorial Guinea, in charge of the country’s Defense and Security, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue.

The international arrest of vessels flying the flag of Equatorial Guinea began during the first half of the year after information was discovered about the existence of more than 300 ships flying the flag of the central African nation. Another reason for this strategic plan to protect the national flag in the seas around the world began after a merchant ship carrying more than 750 tons of diesel, in route from Egypt to Malta, sank off the coast of Tunisia on April 16 of this year.

“There are more than 300 ships around the world that use our flag illegally,” Equatorial Guinea Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue said in a recent post on Twitter. Reporting that his country has begun to implement a mechanism that will solve this problem and prevent it in the future, the Vice President wrote: “The flag of Equatorial Guinea cannot be the face of international fraud.”

Some analysts suspect that it was not really a coincidence that the ships sailed under the flag of Equatorial Guinea. It is estimated that the Government of the country was aware of the situation, and used these vessels to implement their projects of illegal merchandise trafficking around the world.

It is curious that only at the beginning of this year the Government began to take charge of solving this serious problem. Most likely, having perceived new opportunities in the international market for the trade of raw materials, such as crude oil, the Government of Equatorial Guinea decided to try to play the role of an honest member of the market.

It is necessary to pay close attention to such statements by the national government. The kleptocratic authoritarian power of Equatorial Guinea has not changed and nothing good can be expected from it. All this testifies once again that the clan will go to great lengths to cover up their illegal business, accusing everyone who stands in their way, as well as trying to hide all traces of their fraudulent actions internationally, as has happened in the case of the illegal flagging of the aforementioned vessels.