[Malcolm G]

The thing which recently sparked my curiosity was the reference in Press and BBC, and even spotted on GCaptain!, to: (FOC) flagged, British Registered, vessel name.
Well it can't be both, can it?
The most recent ship to be hit I note that they say 'British owned' even though the owner is from elsewhere but using a UK address for which they no doubt pay a small fee.
That latest ship was a Palau registered cargo ship - MV Islander, crewed by Syrians.
On burrowing down, again, it seems that the real owners are based in Liberia but the claimed ultimate owners are Joahar Group Ltd. Who have apparently denied owning a ship.
Joahar UK Ltd is an IT Company in Hayes.
Jaohar UK Ltd, however, is shipping manager and broker in Lowestoft.
It would seem that the Liberian owner of this ship is doing the same as Rubymar and paying to use the UK address. They just spelled the name wrong....

Channel Ferries in the 1980s - Personal knowledge on that one. With Sealink, part of my job was to obtain and file copies of the actual British Registration Certificate for each ship that we had any dealings with, or were likely to. I recall that many had the owner shown on the form as Lloyds Leasing Ltd.
But they were still British and flew the correct flag.