Panama Flag Administration eligible for QUALSHIP 21

USCG welcomes the flag administrations of Belgium, Panama, Portugal, and Vanuatu for becoming QS21 eligible this year.

It represents a milestone for the Panama Ship Registry and demonstrates the institution and its human resources’ effort in changing working methods and fleet monitoring.

 

To achieve this objective, a series of measures were implemented to guarantee the reduction of possible detentions upon arrival of Panama-flagged vessels in ports of the United States:

• It was made mandatory that all Panama-flagged vessels transiting or visiting ports in Panama prior to their arrival in the United States must undergo a Flag State Inspection as soon as they arrive at any port terminal or anchorage area in Panama.
• By effective 1 August 2022, the AMP initiated a special flag inspection programme that was implemented for vessels arriving at U.S. ports whose PSC history makes them for a Port State Control Inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard.

 

The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP)’s General Directorate of Merchant Marine by means of the Department of Navigation and Maritime Safety, in conjunction with the Flag Inspectors, the Recognized Organizations, and the Segumar Technical Offices located in the United States, Panama, among other regions worked to achieve this objective together.

 

Source: Seatrade Maritime