Open v. National

The United Nations Conference of Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released its 2013 Review of Maritime Transport (RMT), which highlights trends within the industry including ship registration.

Following is an excerpt from the report. A PDF version with accompanying charts is available here.

The OGSR finds author Rose George unfairly criticizes open registries in her recent book Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, The Invisible Industry that Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has recently issued a report on "Accidents at Sea" in which the organization launches some broad generalizations on flag states without providing many specifics on which registries they are basing the

Liberia has issued the following statement on how flag states should be evaluated, particularly in terms of challenging the assumptions and terminology associated with type of registry.

PRESS RELEASE

The International Chamber of Shipping's external relations director Simon Bennett has explained how shipowners can use its recently released Flag State Performance Table as guidelines in choosing a registry.

Registration service provider Offshoregate.com has posted some insightful commentary on the development of open registries during the 20th century.

Open Vs Closed Registry

The Isle of Man Ship Registry's success over the past ten years demonstrates that small states can become strong maritime powers.

The state, whose size measures approximately three times the area of Washington, D.C., places 20th worldwide as measured by gross tonnage, with a fleet size of 15 million gross tons.