Marshall Islands becomes the world's second largest ship registry

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) fleet now stands at 223,262,177 dwt making it the second largest registry in the world in deadweight tonnage terms administrators International Registries Inc (IRI) said in a statement.

"This is a very significant milestone for the RMI Registry," said Bill Gallagher, president, IRI.

IRI in particular credited the support of traditional Greek owners and newer Chinese owners.

RMI is the leading Greek flag 18.9% of the fleet in deadweight terms with some 79 ships totalling 62.19 dwt.

“We are delighted that our Greek owners and operators continue to hold the RMI Registry in such high regard which has been reflected in the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee's March 2017 Greek Controlled Shipping Report which shows the RMI as the number one choice of flag for Greek owners and operators," Theo Xenakoudis, director, worldwide business operations and managing director of the Piraeus office for IRI. 

Panama remains by far the world’s largest ship registry, with RMI moving ahead of Liberia in deadweight tonnage terms.