About that "British" tanker "captured" recently by Iran....

[Roland99]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strait-of-hormuz-incident-uk-government-letter-to-un-security-council-president/letter-to-the-united-nations-security-council-president-about-the-strait-of-hormuz-incident

On 19 July at approximately 4pm UK time, the British-flagged tanker STENA IMPERO was boarded by Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel was surrounded by four vessels and a helicopter before she was boarded. Stena Bulk, the Swedish company that owns the tanker, has released a public statement confirming that there are 23 seafarers on board made up of Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino nationals. There have been no reported injuries.

British ship?!

[VMA131Marine]

1. If it was flying the Red Ensign

Yes! It's considered a British ship.

[magicarpet]

2. "British Tanker".... likely the ship was registered in Great Britain and was flying the ....

.... British flag,... the ship was also likely insured in Britain.

[Wounded Bear]

3. I don't think that term has a lot of meaning any more...

basically, ships get "flagged" in any country that is cheapest for the company operating it. Note the crew.

That's been going on for years.

[TreasonousBastard]

4. It's complicated. Someone can physically own a vessel, but then it can be...

voyage chartered, bareboat chartered, time chartered, sold while on the high seas, and flagged out to another country with more interesting regulations or taxes. There have even been cases of sailors hanging on ropes to change the name of the ship while at sea.

Last I looked, Exxon/Mobil had the largest fleet in the world, but you wouldn't know it from looking at the list of vessels. All but maybe a couple of dozen are owned by foreign corporations and flagged out to Liberia, or some other flag of convenience.

If this one was flying a British flag, it's a British ship.