ICS released the latest Flag State Performance Table

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) published the latest update of its Flag State Performance Table. In the report, ICS analyzes how the administrations performed, by providing an annual overview of the world’s ship registers against a number of criteria.

The Flag State Performance Table presents the performance of individual flag states worldwide, and analyses the administrations’ performance based on a number of criteria such as port state control records, ratification of international maritime Conventions and attendance at IMO meetings.

Since the Table was launched 15 years ago, ICS says it has been pleased by the improvement which the data has helped to demonstrate. Among the twelve largest flag states, responsible for 80% of world merchant tonnage, none currently have more than one potential negative indicator and nine of these have no negative indicators at all.

ICS Secretary General, Guy Platten, stated:

The purpose of the ICS Table is to encourage ship operators to examine whether a flag state has substance before using it and to put pressure on their current flag administrations if improvements might be needed, for example with regard to port state control records of ships under their flag, failure to ratify key IMO Conventions or regular attendance at IMO meetings

ICS mentioned also mentioned that there is nothing unusual about an international ship registry system. However, a balance has to be struck between the commercial advantages of selecting a particular flag and the need to discourage the use of flag states that may not fully adhere to their international obligations, especially with regard to safety and environmental performance.

Source:safety4sea.com