(February 16, 2004)

“Open registries need to be well-resourced and fully committed to executing their duties and obligations in a responsible manner if ever they are to improve their image” was the simple message of Bill Gallagher, President of International Registries, Inc (IRI), the Corporate and Maritime Administrator of the Marshall Islands flag, in his keynote speech to delegates attending an international meeting on ship registers in London today.

Even though the tightening regulatory net, increased transparency and stricter enforcement procedures are helping to drive substandard flags out of business, that alone is not enough. “Responsible administrations need to distance themselves from those open registries that act as mere cash extraction machines while paying scant regard to their obligations as signatories of IMO conventions,” said Bill Gallagher in opening the 4th Annual Ship Registers Conference, organised by Lloyd’s List Events.

“They need to do this by taking the following steps: (a) being proactive, including in IMO discussions; (b) avoiding registering vessels for companies in which the beneficial owner is not known; (c) overseeing the work of, and partnering, the Recognised Organisations (ROs) which act on their behalf; (d) rigorously investigating casualties involving vessels flying their flag, and reporting the results to IMO in a timely fashion; and (e) keeping open the communications links with port states, the flag states’ key ally in the maritime safety/security enforcement process.”

Bill Gallagher said that the image of open registries, in general, had been tarnished by the actions of a small number of substandard administrations. However, the results of port state inspections, the primary gauge of the quality of a flag administration, show that there are numerous committed open registries with ship detention records every bit as good as the best-performing traditional national administrations. On the flip side, national registries are not necessarily synonymous with quality, as the relatively poor ship detention records of some traditional maritime nations show. “With 53% of the world’s tonnage now on their books, open registries are crucial players in the modern maritime world,” reported Bill Gallagher.

The IRI President highlighted the capabilities of the Marshall Islands flag as an example of a fully committed and a fully responsible administration, not least its well-resourced registry infrastructure in terms of people, plant and equipment, with points of contact worldwide, and its accessibility, experience and service levels. As part of its active representation at IMO, the Marshall Islands flag was proud to co-sponsor the IMO model flag state audit scheme, while IRI has recently held a worldwide series of in-depth maritime security seminars to assist shipowners with the implementation of all relevant aspects of the new International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code regime.