Cayman on the White List

The Cayman Islands Shipping Registry (CISR) has announced that the Cayman Islands has moved up from the "Grey" to the "White" list under the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This rating is indicative of quality flags with a consistently low-detention record.

At its 38th meeting last week, the Paris MOU Committee considered the 2004 inspection results and updated the new Black-Grey-White list.

To date, on the White list, Germany, Isle of Man, the United Kingdom, the U.S.A. and Sweden are placed highest in terms of performance. Bulgaria, Cyprus, India, Iran, Malta and Morocco have moved up from the Black to the Grey list. Vanuatu and Saudi Arabia have been downgraded to the Grey list, whilst new to the White list are the Philippines, Malaysia, Barbados and the Cayman Islands.

The Paris MOU consists of 20 participating maritime administrations and covers the waters of the European coastal states and the North Atlantic basin, from North America to Europe. The 20 nations have signed a MOU that agrees they will inspect all foreign-registered vessels visiting their ports and detain vessels that are sub-standard, thus driving inferior vessels away from European ports.

The Black list is now comprised of 21 flag states, five fewer than last year. The White list includes 31 flag states, two more than last year. A core group of flag states reappear on the Black list. Most flags that were considered very high risk in 2003 remain so in 2004. Ships flying a Black-listed flag run a risk of getting banned from the region after multiple detentions within a certain period. The poorest performing flags are still Albania, North Korea, Tonga and Bolivia. Other flags on the Black list are Honduras, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Panama and Belize.

The Cayman Islands are members of the Caribbean MOU that also conduct Port State Control of foreign ships. Of the 32 vessels inspected in George Town by the CISR in the last 10 months, the Shipping Registry continued the enforcement of its standards by the detention of six vessels for deficiencies considered to be harmful to the people aboard or a threat to Cayman’s marine environment.

With the upgrade to the Paris MOU's white list in addition to the recent approval of the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands (MACI) Bill (effective 1 July 2005), the CISR is now in a more marketable position to continue attracting large new quality ships for registration.