London: The Tanzanian shipping registry has come in for particular flak from the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) which has published its annual Shipping Industry Flag State Performance Table.
ICS noted in a release that there are a number of smaller flag states that still have considerable work to do, and ICS continues to suggest that shipowners may wish think very carefully about using such flags. The largest of these is Tanzania, but Mongolia, Moldova, Cambodia and Sierra Leone are also conspicuous examples of sub-standard ship registers according to the ICS table.
“One area on which we would like to see more progress by certain flag states, including some of those with otherwise better performance, is with respect to ratification of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention” said Andy Hinchliffe, ICS’s secretary-general. “But following the entry into force of the MLC it is now being enforced worldwide through Port State Control and the vast the majority of international shipping companies are operating in compliance, with the exception of the official flag state certification.”
