Panama´s Ship registry cleans up its fleet

The Panama Maritime Authority considers the international compliance of the Panama-flagged fleet of utmost importance and to enforce it, the Authority looks at age of vessels, detention, and safety inspection history, together with statutory and classification inspection and certification history.

 

PMA said it had cancelled ex officio from July 2021 more than 6.5m GT for issues related to Iran, North Korea, or vessels on international sanctions lists.

 

In July 2021, the registry started a process of purging sub-standard tonnage from its books, which had also been previously postponed.

 

This process is now continuing and according to the PMA the registry is working on an integrated review for the verification and control of the more than 8,500 vessels that make up the Panamanian fleet and the more than 318,000 active seafarers that remain on board these ships.

 

“The vessels with a compromised history and detentions reported by the different Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), fishing vessels involved in unreported and unregulated fishing situations and vessels that maintain low international compliance will be subject to a process of sanction and cancellation of their registration. The vessels of advanced age and whose operating companies do not maintain best practices represent a potential risk, as they may suffer accidents and detentions in Port State inspections, causing damage to the rest of the fleet, as well as to the prestige of the Panamanian flag”, the PMA stated.

 

Earlier this year the Panama Registry entered the US Coastguard’s Qualship21 programme for the first time in its 20-year history which the PMA described as an important milestone,  as it shows the efforts of the institution and its human resources in changing the working methods and the monitoring of the fleet.

 

 

Source: Panama Maritime Authority

PANAMA’S SHIP REGISTRY CLEANS UP ITS FLEET FOR INTERNATIONAL COMPLIANCE – Panama Ship Registry