The Isle of Man Ship Registry (IOMSR) is set to become the world’s first flag state to incentivise ship owners by offering a new green discount on registration fees for ships deploying green technology.
Specifically, the green discount will give ship owners a 15% reduction on their annual registration fee. It is available to operators of cargo ships, commercial yachts or passenger ships that are investing in biofuel, alternative fuels, wind or shore-side energy technology.
The incentive is a part of the Isle of Man Government’s Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2022, published on the Register of Business on 1 February 2022, which will be submitted to Tynwald for approval at its sitting in March 2022.
The Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2022 set out the IOMSR fees from 1 April 2022.
“The Isle of Man Government has made a clear commitment to sustainability as outlined by our strategic objectives in the Island Plan”, said Minister for Enterprise Alex Allinson MHK.
“Initiatives like these contribute to our wider climate change agenda, as well as demonstrating our commitment to innovation and building a world-class Ship Registry. I am proud that we are the first flag to introduce this incentive and look forward to seeing more initiatives like these in the future.”
Cameron Mitchell , director of the IOMSR, added: “There is a lot of debate in the sector regarding which alternative fuels will be best in the future which conversely can create confusion and delay innovation. We want to jump-start work in this area with this new discount and state clearly that if you are a shipping line making steps towards hitting IMO Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions targets, the Isle of Man flag will reward you. We want to welcome many more new, greener ships to our fleet.”
According to IOMSR, this move comes on the back of becoming the first flag state to join the Getting to Zero Coalition in 2020 . The coalition’s core aim is to hit the IMO’s 2050 target to develop commercially viable, deep-sea zero-emission vessels by 2030.
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