Liberian Registry Applauds Ukraine Boost for Tanker Owners

The Liberian Registry welcomes the action recently taken by the Ukrainian government to reduce port costs for Liberian-flag ships, which will help tanker owners and raise standards in the Black Sea trades. The Ukrainian Government Order No.1069 of 17 July 2003 cancelled the different tonnage dues tariffs for vessels flying favored and non-favored flags. Tonnage dues are now the same for both categories. The effect of the change was to remove the last tariff barrier preventing the use of Liberian-flag tankers serving the Black Sea oil export trades. Yoram Cohen, CEO of LISCR, says, "The Ukrainian government's decision to harmonise port dues so that ships of all flags calling at Ukrainian ports pay the same rate means owners can now opt for the highest quality flags to access the trade. This is good news for the Ukraine, good news for tanker owners worldwide, good news for the Black Sea, and good news for the Liberian flag. "Liberia is the flag of choice for the world's tanker fleet. The previous system in the Ukraine, under which ships of a few favoured flags were charged lower port dues, effectively made it difficult for owners of aframax and suezmax tankers trading to Black Sea ports to benefit from the efficiency of the Liberian Registry, and difficult for Ukrainian ships flying foreign flags to trade to their own ports. Now a typical 80,000 dwt vessel under our flag will see port costs cut by as much as 70 per cent when calling at Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Owners can now use their flag of choice, unhindered by two-tier charging systems for port dues. We believe this will raise safety and environmental standards in the Black Sea trades, as more vessels move to our registry and then have to meet Liberia's stringent standards." In the recently released 2002 report of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, the Liberian Registry has once again underlined its reputation for the highest standards of safety and efficiency by retaining its position as the best-performing major ship register. With the introduction of more selective targeting, expanded inspections and new banning provisions, the Paris MoU is moving towards a zero-tolerance policy. It ranks individual flags in Black, Grey and White Lists, based on their performance over a three-year rolling period. The Liberian Registry is consistently in the top ten in the prestigious White List, with a significantly superior performance compared to any register of comparable size.