The Republic of the Marshall Islands Registry Achieves QUALSHIP 21 Status for Unprecedented 15th Consecutive Year

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has been recognized on the United States Coast Guard’s (USCG’s) QUALSHIP 21 roster for 2019-2020. The USCG program rewards vessels for commitment to safety and quality when calling at ports in the United States (US).

Only flag States which maintain a port State control (PSC) detention ratio of 1.00% or less over a three-year period and also meet a stringent set of judgement criteria are eligible for the program. A vessel registered in a flag State with QUALSHIP 21 certification may apply to be certified for QUALSHIP 21 by completing an application found on the USCG website. The RMI is the only leading registry to have maintained this position for 15 consecutive years, which is testament to quality tonnage in the fleet.

“Maintaining QUALSHIP 21 status is of significant importance to the RMI; it delivers tangible benefits to shipowners and operators trading in US waters,” said Bill Gallagher, President, International Registries, Inc. and its affiliates (IRI), which provides administrative and technical support to the RMI Maritime and Corporate Registries.

“This is an exceptionally difficult standard to achieve; other flags come and go, but the RMI has remained consistent and steadfast for 15 years counting which is unprecedented for a large flag,” continued Mr. Gallagher.

“Achieving QUALSHIP 21 again speaks to our long-term commitment and ability to support owners and operators in maintaining vessels to the highest safety, quality, and environmental standards,” he concluded.

The RMI Registry consists of bluewater, offshore, and yacht tonnage and is the leading registry in the world as reported by Clarksons Research. As of 4 March 2019, 32.25% of RMI flagged vessels have successfully achieved QUALSHIP 21 certification, with 16 vessels having E-Zero certification as well which represents 29.63% of all E-Zero certifications.

The announcement about the QUALSHIP 21 certifications for 2019-2020 was made by USCG Rear Admiral John P. Nadeau at Intertanko’s North American Panel meeting which took place just before the kick-off of the Connecticut Maritime Association’s (CMA’s) Shipping 2019 conference in Stamford, CT on 2 April 2019.