USCG set to pare Qualship 21 flag state list?

MARCH 29, 2016 —The U.S. Coast Guard looks set to trim the number of flag states on its Qualship 21 list.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands registry reports that at an Intertanko North American panel held in conjunction with last week’s CMA Shipping 21 event in Stamford, CT, Rear Admiral Paul Thomas, Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy, USCG, presented preliminary results showing that only 16 flag states have thus far made the cut for the 2016 Qualship 21 list, down from the 26 eligible in 2015.

The final results will be presented in the USCG’s 2016 Annual Report scheduled to be released in early summer, but as of now the Marshall Islands is the only flag state of the three largest that has made the list.

The other flag states that continue on the list include Belgium, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands,Canada, Cayman Islands, Denmark, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Japan, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Italy, Mexico and the Philippines are new to the 2016 Qualship 21 preliminary list.

Instituted January 1, 2001, Qualship 21 is an initiative to identify high-quality ships, and provide incentives to encourage quality operations.

“Even though the data is preliminary, getting the news during CMA that we will continue on Qualship 21 for 12 consecutive years was timely and meant we could immediately share this information with our owners and operators in person,” said Bill Gallagher, President of International Registries, Inc. which provides administrative and technical support to the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Maritime and Corporate Registries.