London: The Jamaica Ship Registry is considering opening a representative office in Shanghai as part of plans to increase its world-wide presence. Speaking at a press event in London yesterday, Admiral Peter Brady (pictured), director general of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica told SeatradeAsia-Online, "So far we have been deficient in establishing a big international presence, but we plan to remedy this situation and have been talking to the ministry to ensure this goes through. In the last two weeks we have already confirmed a new European shipping centre in a prominent shipping area and are looking at locations like Shanghai to set up further offices."
Although Admiral Brady did not divulge further details of either office, claiming it was too early in the negotiations, he did say, "Beijing has been very supportive and we expect to be able to announce something very soon."
The new offices are part of a drive by the registry to increase the number of vessels on its books. "We currently have 45 vessels registered with us of 120,953 tons, but I am confident we can increase tonnage to one million tons by 2010," he said. "Until now, our reach in international shipping has been limited as we operate from back offices. Although we have deputy registrars in various countries, they often have other responsibilities, which is why we will now open offices in important international shipping locations with the support of the new government."
"The new government is committed to making the Jamaica Ship Registry the number one shipping registry in the world and we are leaving no stone unturned in this endeavour," said L Michael Henry, the new Minister of Transport and Works, who was also present at the meeting.
The registry, which is a bidding for a seat on the IMO Council - to be voted on tomorrow, is optimistic about raising its profile. Admiral Brady stated that he is confident that the registry will be on the Paris MOU White List in the next two years. At present Jamaica is not featured on the Paris MOU lists as its ships do not receive the requisite number of inspections at European ports to qualify. [22/11/07]
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
