The Red Ensign Group is a collaboration of United Kingdom shipping registries including

British Overseas Territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

and Crown dependencies. It takes its name from the Red Ensign ("Red Duster") flag flown by British civil merchant ships. Its stated purpose is to combine resources to maintain safety and quality across the British fleet. As of 2018 it ranked the ninth largest such group in the world, with approximately 1,300 vessels. Sir Alan Massey of the UK

Maritime and Coastguard Agency The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is an executive agency of the United Kingdom that responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy. It works to prevent the loss of lives at sea and to prevent marine ...

commented: ".. keeping hipsinside the REG family means that you still have some influence over their quality and performance... We can take administrative measures against members of tif we want to so as to ensure that safety is brought up to the necessary standards..." The vessels also receive British Consular assistance and protection. The Red Ensign Group has two categories:

Category 1

(Ships of any type, length, or tonnage): United Kingdom, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, and the Isle of Man. Bermuda has promoted its status in Category 1 to encourage ship owners "...looking for better flags for their ships..." to register in their country.

Category 2

(Commercial ships and yachts of up to 150 GT, pleasure craft up to 400 GT): Anguilla, Falkland Islands, Guernsey, Jersey, Montserrat, St. Helena, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. A ship registered in any country within the Red Ensign group is entitled to fly the Red Ensign, or it can choose to fly the Red Ensign defaced with its home port national colors. As an example in 2011 the home port and registry of

RMS Queen Mary 2 RMS ''Queen Mary 2'' (also referred to as the ''QM2'') is a British transatlantic ocean liner. She has served as the flagship of Cunard Line since succeeding ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' in 2004. As of 2022, ''Queen Mary 2'' is the only ocean liner ...

was changed from Southampton, Great Britain to

Hamilton, Bermuda The City of Hamilton, in Pembroke Parish, is the territorial capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination. Its population of 854 (2016) is one of the sm ...

, a UK overseas territory. Despite the registry change she continues to fly the undefaced Red Ensign rather than the Bermuda Red Ensign. Vessel registration can also be easily changed from one Group country to another. Once a vessel meets all of the requirements to be registered in one Group country, no other requirements are needed for a change to any other Group country. Only the application papers for the new registry are needed. For example a vessel originally registered in the United Kingdom can be easily changed to the Cayman Islands to lower an operator's tax liability while still being able to fly the Red Ensign. This practice has resulted in criticism from maritime unions who argue that the REG is being used as a Flag of convenience to avoid taxes and use cheap foreign labor.

References

External links

*{{Official, http://www.redensigngroup.org/, The Red Ensign Group Flags of the United Kingdom British Empire Civil ensigns Merchant navy