What is an open ship register? Has this impacted the growth of The Bahamas Register?

Category: Maritime

Answer:

An open registry offers ship registration to ship owners whose principal place of business is not in that country. Increasing numbers of ship owners are registering their vessels with countries which offer the advantages of an open registry -- political neutrality, absence of nationality requirements for officers and seafarers, absence of restrictive labour and employment laws and tax advantages. The proportion of world shipping flagged with open registers now exceeds 50%, up from 30% some 10 years ago.

The increase in The Bahamas Register illustrates the growth of open registers. In 1978 there were just 60 vessels on the Register, comprising 58,000 gross tons. By 2003, there were 1,600 vessels, totalling 34 million GT, with The Bahamas Registry ranked third in the world. The Bahamas Maritime Authority has a firm policy that the growth of the register will not be at the expense of quality standards. To qualify for admission to the register vessels must be classed with the seven best classification societies, and must undergo annual inspection by "approved" inspectors.