Liberia has strengthened its position as the leading open registry of choice for Greek shipowners, according to the figures released by the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee (GSCC).
The GSCC statistics show that in the year ended with March 2016 the gross tonnage of Greek-controlled ships in the Liberian Registry increased by 995,781 gt.
Liberia, with 744 vessels aggregating 54.74 m dwt, is the second country only to Greece in terms of the number of Greek-owned ships and ahead of the Marshall Islands in third place, according to GSCC.
Eighteen percent of Greek-controlled ships are registered under Liberian flag, compared to twenty percent in Greece.
Scott Bergeron, CEO of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR), the US-based manager of the Liberian Registry, believes that it is encouraging to see that the relationship between Greek shipowners and the Liberian Registry endures through “good and bad times alike for the industry and for the global economy,”
“The Greek shipping community continues to demonstrate great loyalty to the Liberian Registry, which in turn continues to respond by providing the innovative service and guaranteed quality and safety which owners demand,” Michalis Pantazopoulos, Senior Vice-President of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (Hellas) SA in Piraeus says.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.