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Wellington, New Zealand. When an Australian ship inspector took a close look at a metal pin securing cargo on the Rena, he realized it wasn’t an original. Then he discovered that cleats securing the hatch could be removed with a single finger.

Those were just 2 of 17 safety problems inspectors found when the cargo ship docked in western Australia in July. Someone had tampered with an alarm. The navigation manuals were out of date. The data recorder was still wrapped in its canvas.

The violations are described in records obtained under Australian freedom of information laws. Inspection reports, e-mails and faxes tell the story of how Australia impounded the Greek-owned vessel, which like many ships is registered in Liberia, but then released it the next day after Liberian maritime authorities intervened, essentially saying the ship was safe to sail and the problems could be fixed later.

On a calm night 10 weeks later, the Rena ran full-steam into a well-charted reef off the coast of New Zealand. It spilled 400 tons of oil, killing 2,000 sea birds and fouling pristine beaches in the country’s worst-ever maritime environmental disaster. In the two months since then, 89 cargo containers have fallen off the still-listing ship, some washing up more than 150 kilometers away.

Whether or not the problems found in July contributed to the navigational error in October or the subsequent loss of cargo, experts say the Australian records paint a picture of an aging ship in poor repair and highlight a dangerous cost-cutting culture under the so-called flag-of-convenience system.

“They nickel-and-dime things, they don’t do proper maintenance, they don’t pay the crews to do repairs, and they don’t have enough spare parts on board,” said Harry Bolton, the director of marine programs at the California Maritime Academy, who assessed the records.

Pioneered by American shipowners in the 1920s to skirt Prohibition-era restrictions on serving and shipping alcohol, the system of registering ships in another country’s name has become a way for shipping companies in wealthier countries to avoid taxes and employ cheap labor.

Critics say it has also lowered safety standards on ships, but the International Maritime Organization, a UN agency that regulates shipping, says most flag-of-convenience countries act responsibly and follow international protocols.

Annual reports by the US Coast Guard show that flag-of-convenience vessels are consistently found with more safety problems than other ships. Among the worst performers last year were ships flying flags from Sierra Leone, Bolivia, the Cook Islands and Saint Kitts and Nevis, which were detained by US port authorities at rates between 9 and 40 times the average.

“It’s all about saving money and dodging responsibility for seafarers,” said Dean Summers, the Australia coordinator for the International Transport Workers’ Federation, which has campaigned against flags of convenience for more than 50 years.

Liberia is considered to be among the more responsible flag-of-convenience nations thanks to the international shipping treaties it has signed. It performed better than average in the Coast Guard rankings, though in Australia, it was the sixth-worst performer of 58 visiting flag nations last year.

Salvage crews are continuing the painstaking task of removing more than 1,000 6-meter and 12-meter containers that remain on the crippled ship, which still sits on the reef, grinding in the swells and threatening to break apart. Three more containers fell off in recent days.

Two weeks before the Rena arrived at the Australian port of Fremantle on July 21, authorities in Shenzhen, China, found 18 problems with the ship but allowed it to sail on.

Inspectors from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority detained the ship in Fremantle, a serious step reserved for about one in every 18 foreign vessels.

Associated Press