The number of officers' licences and crew qualification certificates issued by the Marshall Islands maritime registry has doubled from 10,000 in 1999 to 20,000 this year, International Registries Inc. (IRI), the managers of the Pacific island registry, said 04 December 2000.

"The growth of the Marshall Islands ship registry to the world's ninth largest, with some 330 ships of over 10 million GT, is an important factor," said Captain James F. Norman, the Chief of IRI's Seafarers' Identification and Certification Division at its headquarters near Washingion DC. "But a high proportion of the 77 applications we process every day are for crew serving on ships in substantial fleets under other flags," Captain Norman said. "That is because the high standards set by the Marshall Islands are universally regarded."

"We expect the inclusion of the Marshall Islands on the IMO's White List, which is about to be published, will further boost the number of applications."

Captain Norman said the 10% reduction in fees made earlier this year was also a factor, along with the streamlining of his division, which now turns around applications for seafarers' ID books in three to five days.