Liberian Maritime Authority News

Liberia and China are teaming up to bolster and expand on their existing working relationship in maritime safety.The Liberian Maritime Authority, and the Maritime Safety Administration of the Peoples Republic of China signed a Memorandum of Understanding together in Beijing on October 17 following several months of close discussions and cooperation.Among focus areas are Port State Control; Marine Environmental Protection; to Promote and Facilitate Maritime Transport between both nations…

For a long time there has been a deficit of trained maritime officers in Brazil, as for decades the only accredited training institutes were run by the Brazilian Navy, where a very limited number of prospective maritime deck and engine officers could be trained at its two training institutes in the country. That's all changing now with the Institute of Nautical Sciences (ICN) leading the way.With the discovery of the pre-salt in 2007 and the continued growth of the maritime and offshore sectors, the lack of qualified Brazilian officers became acute. For many years, and even today, most offshore captains and officers are foreigners, while there is a more significant number of local captains and officers in the merchant fleet.

The Liberian Registry announced the introduction of a range of cost-saving provisions which it said will help mitigate the burden and financial strain currently being placed on owners and operators of Liberian-flag vessels during the sustained economic downturn in the maritime and offshore sectors. The provisions are set out in Marine Operations Notes 02-2016 and 03-2016 recently released by the Liberian Maritime Authority to owners and operators of Liberian and non-Liberian flag vessels, as well as financial institutions and legal advisers.

International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Chris Trelawny has visited the Maritime Trade Information Sharing Centre (MTISC-GoG), located in the Regional Maritime University of Accra, Ghana. The multinational centre provides advice and information to merchant shipping operating in the Gulf of Guinea. At the time of the visit over 630 ships were exchanging information with the centre. In recent months the centre has provided support to ships and authorities to assist in countering piracy and illegal fishing, as well as supporting search and rescue operations. The watchkeeping staff who operate this centre come from the navies of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo, the Liberian Maritime Authority and from private companies and are supported by Merchant Navy liaison officers.

The Liberian Maritime Authority has released the mandatory MLC Annual Report for 2013. This report confirms that Liberia’s approach to enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 has resulted in low deficiency rate for Liberian-flag ships, the group said. LISCR CEO Scott Bergeron says, “Liberia has consistently led the way on MLC. It was the first flag state to ratify MLC 2006 and has been tireless in applying its training and implementation procedures. Liberia’s first MLC Annual Report confirms this.

Scott Bergeron has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR), the US-based manager of the Liberian Registry. Bergeron joined LISCR in 2000 as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, he developed a wide range of experience in the shipping industry, working for shipowner/manager Laurin Maritime, for Det Norske Veritas and for the US Coast Guard, as well as gaining practical seagoing experience on a variety of different types of ship. Yoram Cohen and Adam Cohen will remain as Chairman and Executive Vice-Chairman, respectively, of LISCR.