ship registration

The maritime community has been discussing the use of armed guards aboard vessels in response to the continued issue of piracy within the Gulf of Aden and other high risk areas.

The list was issued June 6th and is based on inspection data for the period 2008-2010. 84 flags are on the 2010 list, up from 82 for 2009. The 2010 breakdown is "Black List" 18 (down 6 from 2009), "Grey List" 24 (up 5 from 2009) and "White List" 42 (up 3 from 2009).

New to the "Black List" are Ukraine, Tanzania and Azerbaijan

German flag state costs, and government responsibility for those costs, have been a critical discussion point as German shipowners and government officials plan to meet at the national maritime conference in Wilhelmshaven next week.

In a time in which German shipowners are already displaying a preference toward flagging out, the German government is reducing subsidies for owners who register their ships nationally.

The Paris MOU on Port State Control's 2009 Annual Report, released last month, provides the maritime community with updated white, grey, and black lists, classifying flag states according to performance.

The OGSR editors and Dennis Bryant offer their interpretation of Obama's recent Executive Order addressing violence in the Somali region.

U.S. President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order Tuesday, April 13th in light of recent acts of violence in Somalia.

The Isle of Man Ship Registry has hired Japanese transportation company Toko Maruraku in an effort to expand its market in Japan.

Toko will serve as agent for the registry in the region, with the authority to issue documents, verify receipts of signed documents, and assist with vessel and mortgage registration.

For those who can't deal with Washington bureaucratic babble, here's a chart of the proposed limits:

The increase in piracy off Somalia and a ten-fold hike in insurance premiums have sent the cost of sending ships through the Gulf of Aden soaring.

The hearings were held on May 20, 2009 in response to the attacks on the Maersk Alabama and Liberty Sun under the chairmanship of Congressman Elijah Cummings. Your editors thought the following quote summed up the situation: