Bangkok: The future of the Cambodia shipping registry remains in doubt. For the past eight days the register’s website has been down and SeaShip News has been unable to get in touch with employees at the register.
Authorities in Phnom Penh have been reviewing its shipping flag operations in the wake of the EU banning last month all seafood imports from the Southeast Asian nation on account of rampant illegal fishing from Cambodian-flagged vessels. What has transpired in the wake of the ban is the government’s total lack of knowledge of ships flying its flag. In 2003, Cambodia sold its shipping flag to a company in Busan, South Korea called International Ship Registry of Cambodia (ISROC). ISROC has since paid around $6m to Cambodia to run the flag. The deal and the state’s involvement in ship registration are now being investigated as Phnom Penh looks to overturn the EU ban as fast as possible.
The Cambodian flag has a long history of substandard operations, well before ISROC took it over. [11/12/13]
