Monday, March 23, 2009
Liberia registers 3,000th vessel
Monday, 23 March 2009
The Liberian Registry has passed a major milestone by registering its 3,000th vessel, the 105,400 dwt aframax tanker Ise Princess, built this year for Fairsea Enterprises SA and managed and operated by Tsakos Shipping & Trading SA of Greece. Scott Bergeron. Chief Operating Officer of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR), the U.S.-based manager of the Liberian Registry, noted that the first vessel registered with Liberia, in 1949, was also Greek--the World Peace, owned by Stavros Niarchos. Greece was in at the beginning of Liberia's maritime adventure and, sixty years later, is still contributing to its phenomenal growth."
"Second only to the national register," he said, "Liberia is the flag of choice for Greek shipping. Today almost 600 Greek-owned ships, aggregating 38 million dwt, are registered under the flag of Liberia. And that number will grow still further as an increasing number of Greek shipowners are choosing Liberia for their newbuildings and secondhand purchases.
"In view of the difficult economic outlook for most of the industry right now, the fact that Liberia has registered over 110 vessels in the first two and a half months of 2009 is truly inspiring," said Mr. Bergeron.
Captain Nicolaos Soutos, Liberian Honorary Consul in Greece, says, "This is a very special and happy day for me. Over the past sixty years, Liberia has overcome some well-publicised difficulties, unconnected with its operation of the ship register, to further strengthen its presence in the global shipping industry. In particular, over the last ten years, it has achieved growing recognition and support from the Greek shipowning community, and indeed from the international shipping industry."
Source: Marine Log
0 comments:
Post a Comment