In conservation circles, the M.V. Farley Mowat is a legendary sea craft, famous for ramming and if possible sinking Japanese whaling vessels.
Well, from December 15th to the 27th of this year, the Farley Mowat was flying the Belizean flag. A release says the Mowat was registered on December 15th as a yacht, hardly the description for a converted 1958 North Sea trawler. And now, because of that misrepresentation, IMMARBE, the private registry for Belize's Flag of Convenience Programme, announced that it has revoked that license. Because it does "not condone aggressive acts which are designed (to) endanger human lives." Apparently, the Belize's Merchant Marine Registry didn't know the Farley Mowat was a high seas aggressor.
Well, IMMARBE is about the only one. In fact the Farley Mowat is notorious, known worldwide as the flagship vessel for the militant "Sea Shepherd Conservation Society" - the SSCS. And that can easily be confirmed by only a routine check on the internet, where its exploits are well detailed.
The MV Sea Shepherd, the previous SSCS flagship which, was famous also for aggressive anti-whaling efforts, was Registered in Belize from 1997 to 2002.
