By
Rebecca Gibson |
The Liberian flag registry has appealed for a review of ship registration practices and has called for an end to the use of the term 'flags of convenience', as well as emphasising the need to differentiate between the types of ship registries.
The Liberian Registry is one of the largest shipping registers and has a reputation for ensuring high safety standards for vessels and crews, as well as high levels of service to owners.
“Liberia is one of thirteen flags which have just been given a clean bill of health by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) in its flag state performance table,” said Scott Bergeron, CEO of the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry (ISCR). “This means it has earned positive indicators with regard to its performance in relation to port state control, convention ratification, recognised organisations, age of vessel, IMO attendance, and completion of STCW and ILO reports.”
Bergeron also highlighted the need to differentiate between open registers, which accept ships owned by foreign operators, and national registers, which are restricted to accepting vessels of a specific nation. This distinction would discourage owners from using flag states which do not meet the international shipping regulations and also force flag administrations to improve their safety laws.
“It would be more meaningful to refer instead – as the ICS does – to open registers, in order to distinguish them from national registers, many of which perform well below the level of the best open registries and yet enjoy an undeserved reputation for excellence,” said Bergeron.
He added: “It would be more accurate to refer simply to ship registries, and to judge those registries on how they rate under independent performance monitoring guidelines, such as those produced by the ICS.”