The Coast Guard issued its “Qualship 21 list” for 2010 earlier this week that recognizes the top-performing foreign flag ship registries that meet U.S. safety standards. The Coast Guard’s announcement follows a Netherlands-based group naming the Marshall Islands registry to its “white list” of 39 foreign flags that meet European shipping standards.
The high ratings of the Marshall Islands flag are “a testament to the hard work our registry staff worldwide perform every year,” said registry spokesman Baron Bigler in Majuro Wednesday.
The U.S. Coast Guard issued its Port State Control in the United States annual report 2009 this week reducing from 20 to 16 foreign flags that meet U.S. standards. The annual report was issued as British Petroleum continues attempts to stop the oil spill in the Gulf involving the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that was registered in the Marshall Islands. The Marshall Islands has been the target of media criticism that registration by this remote island group allowed the oil rig to avoid more stringent US Coast Guard inspections and rules.
But the Marshall Islands, ranked number three globally in ship tonnage, is the only one of the top-five registries in the world to be included on the Coast Guard’s list. Other registries included in the Qualship 21 list are Barbados, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Isle of Man, Japan, Malaysia, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and Thailand.
In a September 2009 letter to the Marshall Islands ship registry recognizing it for making the Qualship 21 list last year, U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. J.F. Williams said “the criteria for inclusion are very strict and less than 10 percent of all foreign flagged ships that operate in the United States have earned the Qualship 21 designation.”
The commander recognized the Marshall Islands ship registry “for your exceptional commitment to quality.”
The Marshall Islands ship registry was also named last week to the “Paris MoU” white list issued by a European group that monitors global shipping.
Regional port state control was initiated in 1982 when 14 European countries agreed to coordinate inspections under a voluntary agreement known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control or Paris MoU.
The Paris MoU white list includes 39 ship registries around the world that achieved the best ship safety rating. The Marshall Islands ship registry was ranked above both those of the United States and Panama, the world’s largest — both of which are on the European “grey list.”
“The white list represents quality flags with a consistently low detention record of its vessels,” said a statement issued from the Netherlands office of the Paris MoU.
“A flag’s ranking is taken into account when targeting ships for inspection and ships flying flags listed on the Oblack list’ are liable for banning from the region after multiple detentions,” said the release from the Paris MoU.
According to the Paris MoU statement, there are 23 ship registries on a black list, two more than last year. A total of 19 flag states — including the United States — are on the grey list.
