did this business practice had to conceal their ownership?
Yes, as it makes it hard to track the beneficial owner.
Flag of convenience
 For any of a number of reasons, some justifiable and some suspicious, shipowners who wish to conceal their ownership may use a number of strategies to achieve that goal.
what is the flag of saint vincent and the grenadines? A Canadian pale triband. who designed it? Julien van der Wal . did it face any legal issues? Yes, as it is used as a flag of convenience by foreign merchant vessels. what was the reason for such adoption by these merchant vessels? It offers many advantages for them, such as less expensive fees and lax rules regarding crew, safety, and the environment. what were the working conditions? Low wages, long hours of forced work, minimum social standards, failing to pay the crew, abandoning the crew in distant ports, and low safety standards.
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Flag of convenience [SEP] Concealed ownership
A ship's beneficial owner is legally and financially responsible for the ship and its activities. For any of a number of reasons, some justifiable and some suspicious, shipowners who wish to conceal their ownership may use a number of strategies to achieve that goal. In jurisdictions that permit it, actual owners may establish shell corporations to be the legal owners of their ships, making it difficult, if not impossible, to track who is the beneficial owner of the ship. The 2004 Report of the UN Secretary General's Consultative Group on Flag State Implementation reported that "It is very easy, and comparatively inexpensive, to establish a complex web of corporate entities to provide very effective cover to the identities of beneficial owners who do not want to be known." According to a 2003 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report entitled "Ownership and Control of Ships", these corporate structures are often multi-layered, spread across numerous jurisdictions, and make the beneficial owner "almost impenetrable" to law enforcement officials and taxation.