REFLAGGING

noun Also written re-flagging (Politics) The practice of registering a ship under a new national flag or flag of convenience, especially so as to enable it to qualify for protection in disputed waters. Etymology: Formed by adding the prefix re- and the suffix -ing to flag. History and Usage: Although the word reflagging was not new to the language in the eighties (it had been used in specialized sources for some years before that), it was only during the mid and late eighties that the issue was brought into the public eye through widespread reporting of the situation in the Persian Gulf and the word was therefore used frequently in the newpapers. Most of the reports concerned the difficulties experienced by Kuwaiti ships passing through the Straits of Hormuz with cargoes of oil in 1986-7, during the Iran-Iraq war; the question was whether they should be allowed to avail themselves of naval protection from NATO countries or from the Soviet Union after one or other of these countries had offered to reflag them under its own national flag. In practice, this was done mainly by the US, whose warships subsequently escorted the reflagged Kuwaiti tankers safely through the Straits, and the lead was later followed by the UK, but the rights and wrongs of this approach were hotly disputed both in the US and in the UK. Reflagging Kuwait's tankers as 'American' vessels. US News & World Report 8 June 1987, p. 20 Two reflagged Kuwaiti tankers hoisted the Stars and Stripes and signalled to their escort of four American warships that they were ready to sail. Daily Telegraph 22 July 1987, p. 1 We reflagged the tankers because the Kuwaitis were going to ask the Russians to do it. USA Today 21 Oct. 1987, p. 6