Liberian Registry Gains Qualship21 Approval

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

07 April 2006

The Liberian Registry has been admitted to the United States Coast Guard’s Qualship 21 quality incentive program, which covers only about 10% of foreign-flagged ships calling at US ports.

A Liberian Registry statement says: “This recognition of Liberia’s commitment to quality shipping comes at a time of growth and expansion for the registry, which has grown by more than 500 vessels under the management of the US-based Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR).”

The US Coast Guard said: “Liberia’s commitment to quality shipping was evident as Liberian-flag vessels calling on US ports compiled an excellent 2005 port state control record. As a result, the three-year detention percentage for Liberian vessels fell to 0.94 per cent, which is below the cut-off for inclusion in the Qualship 2 programme".

Scott Bergeron, Chief Operating Officer of LISCR, said: “We are delighted to have been included in the Qualship programme, because this provides further confirmation of Liberia’s pre-eminent position in terms of safety and quality-driven shipping. Further recognition of this commitment to safe and secure shipping, coupled with the growth in the size of the fleet, is good for the ever-increasing numbers of shipowners who operate their ships under the Liberian flag, and for international shipping generally. Any register can grow in size, but to do so while maintaining the highest standards of safety is more difficult, and must be the aim of any responsible ship registry.”

Benefits of the Qualship 21 program include reductions in port state control examinations and streamlined inspection procedures.

Since LISCR assumed management of the Liberian Registry in 2000, the Liberian-flagged fleet has increased from 1,698 ships totaling 53.3 million gross tons, to 2,217 vessels of almost 66 million gross tons, by March 2006 – an increase of more than 12.5m gross tons.

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