Thirteen countries have been removed from the United States Coast Guard’s (USCG’s) Qualship 21, a list of high-quality ships for the 21st century.
“There were 26 eligible flag states in 2015 of which 13 fell off the 2016 Qualship 21 preliminary list, ” the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Registry said citing preliminary information regarding the list, received during Intertanko’s North American Panel meeting at the Connecticut Maritime Association’s (CMA’s) Shipping 2016 conference.
Aside to the RMI that was kept on 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.
“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,” says Bill Gallagher, President of International Registries .
“The RMI fleet has more than 130 million gross tons and more than 50% of that tonnage was represented by attendees at the CMA conference this year,” said Gallagher.
“Even with the growth of the Registry it is gratifying to note that we are maintaining our qualitative edge and based on the preliminary data will continue on Qualship 21 for what will now be 12 consecutive years, ” he concluded.
The final results are to be presented in the USCG’s 2016 Annual Report scheduled to be released in early summer.