The Paris MoU on Port State Control has published its updated “White, Grey and Black (WGB) List” for 2014, ranking flag states from quality flags to flags with a poor performance record that are considered high or very high risk. The list is based on the total number of inspections and detentions over a 3-year rolling period for flags with at least 30 inspections … [Read more...]
Iranian Tankers are Flying Tanzania-Zanzibar Flag, Officials Report “This Must be a Mistake”
(Bloomberg) -- Iranian oil tankers are mistakenly signaling their flag state as Tanzania-Zanzibar and no such registration took place, according to a government official from the east African nation. The 14 ships, previously registered in the Pacific island of Tuvalu, transmitted data from Sept. 24 to Oct. 13 to show they changed their names and were flying the … [Read more...]
Flag States Rally To Support Seafarers Abused By Pirates
Flag states rally to support seafarers abused by pirates by Will Watson [dropcap]W[/dropcap]hile it is anecdotally known that seafarers are suffering brutal abuse at the hands of pirates operating in the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Guinea and other areas, there has been no central repository for information relating to this pattern of brutality… until now. Last year, the … [Read more...]
POLL: Flag State Changes to Dynamically Positioned Drilling Vessels…
As of recently, deepwater self-propelled drilling vessels were considered "MODUs", or mobile offshore drilling units. Recent changes to flag state classification rules now classify these vessels as "Dynamic Positioning Vessels", thus changing the manning requirements significantly. How do you feel about the recent reclassification of DP drilling vessels, and the more … [Read more...]
Liberian-flag fleet reaches 3,500
The Liberian-flag fleet posted record growth figures in 2010 and has now doubled in size in the ten years since the management of the Liberian Registry was assumed by the US-based Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR). The Liberian-flag fleet was boosted by 586 new registrations last year. Of these, 149 were newbuildings. Net growth was 338 vessels, … [Read more...]
Growth Of The Marshall Islands Flag and American Bureau of Shipping
Photo by Boat Nerd Writing this just off the deck of a newbuild in South Korea I am amazed at the market advance of two organizations, the Marshall Islands Registry and ABS. Nearly every technically advanced offshore newbuild I have recently visited (and those on the AIS tracking site) in Korean shipyards carries the MI flag and AB on the Plimsoll mark. A quick look at each … [Read more...]