Uk Ship Register News

Companies are leaving Britain's shipping registry due to uncertainty over Britain's departure from the European Union and future commercial arrangements with the bloc, industry officials say.All commercial ships have to be registered, or flagged, with a particular country partly to comply with safety and environmental regulations. Shipping companies in many so-called "flag states" pay corporation tax based on vessel tonnage rather than profit.Britain's ship registry forms part…

UK Ship Register (UKSR) will now allow owners from a broader group of countries to register their vessels in the UK.UKSR announced that it is set to expand its ownership eligibility, allowing more shipping companies from around the world to flag to the UK.The criteria has been widened beyond the current areas of the UK and Europe to include Commonwealth countries and bring the UK in line with our Red Ensign Group partners.The UK Flag is an International Register (not limited to nationally based companies). Director of the UK Ship Register Richard Parkes said, “This change will now allow the UK flag to attract first class ships and owners who have their company based outside of the UK. They too will be able to benefit from exceptional service and a global reputation”.

Gross tonnage on the UK Ship Register (UKSR) grew 7% in the year to end 2017, and was 16.2 million GT at end December 2017. Official data from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) – for all merchant vessels over 100GT1 – shows that gross tonnage on the UKSR has grown by 18% compared with the end of 2014, following three consecutive years of growth. Based on world fleet data (supplied by IHS Global) for trading vessels only, at the end of 2017, the UK registered trading fleet accounted for 0.8% of the world fleet on a deadweight tonnage basis (a measure of cargo carrying capacity), and 1.2% when based on gross tonnage (a measure of vessel size).

Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) chief executive Sir Alan Massey announced he plans to retire from the role before the end of 2018. The Department of Transport will begin its search for Massey’s successor on March 19. Massey will continue in his role until late 2018 to allow the chief executive appointment process to take place. Massey joined the MCA in July 2010 after a 33-year career with the Royal Navy, where he left as Second Sea Lord. During his eight-year tenure at MCA…

The UK Ship Register has signed its first ever unmanned vessel to the flag, showing how it is adapting to the changes of the maritime industry. ASV’s C-Worker 7 will be used for work such as subsea positioning, surveying and environmental monitoring. It can be used under direct control, semi-manned or completely unmanned. Although such autonomous vessels are now being introduced to many fleets in both commercial and military sectors across the world, they are still relatively new in the maritime sector. Doug Barrow, Director UK Ship Register said: ‘By supporting emerging technologies such as autonomous systems, we are helping to keep the UK at the forefront of the global maritime industry. ‘The UK Flag is growing, as we have invested in resources to meet the demands of that growth.

The UK’s Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) is modernising the way the UK Ship Register operates and a number of new initiatives are in the works that could help the red ensign become more commercial and internationally competitive, says a report from UK Chamber of Shipping. The MCA is considering increasing the fee structure for the UK Ship Register to above 2016 levels, attendees heard at the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Maritime and Ports on Monday. The registry is working to improve the response time for enquiries to one working day, while for complex issues it will take three working days, the meeting heard. Increasing ship registry fees would match the higher levels of service being offered, the MCA said. The register also plans to roll out a package fee option in April 2018.

Statistics show an increase in the UK registered trading fleet for the first time in four years, rising by 8%. However, the figures also show a fall of 18% in UK owned tonnage. UK Chamber CEO, Guy Platten has welcomed these signs of nascent recovery in the UK Ship Register, but has expressed concern over the stark decline in the UK owned fleet. The UK managed fleet fell by 1% to 53.4m dwt and parent owned fleet rose by 3% to 31.0m dwt. The annual Shipping Fleet Statistics are produced by the Department for Transport and reflect tonnages as at the end of December 2015. “That the UK share of the global fleet has fallen significantly at…

The Hong Kong Shipping Register has  crossed of 100 million gross tonnage, informed the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung. To Hong Kong, it’s more than a vote of confidence, Anthony said. Hong Kong’s maritime tradition is almost two centuries old. Hong Kong served as a port of registry under the UK Ship Register since the 1840s until the establishment of the autonomous Hong Kong Shipping Register in 1990 under the administration of the Marine Department. For those who are interested, our first shipping register is now on display at the other side of the hall. Upon its inception in 1990, the Hong Kong Shipping Register had a mere 765 ships with a total gross tonnage of six million.

Simon Barham has been appointed as the first U.K. Ship Register Director at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, scheduled to start his role in February 2016. Barham brings to the position both commercial and technical experience from his 40 year career in the industry. He initially served at sea for 16 years and since then has held senior positions ashore within both ship owning and ship management companies across the world. Previous roles include chief operations officer at Bibby Ship Management…

The Department for Transport has planned to make the UK Ship Register more attractive, so that it rightly becomes the ship register of choice for quality owners and operators, says Robert Goodwill MP. He asserted his relentless commitment to economic growth throughout the maritime and marine sectors. These sectors already contribute at least £11.8 billion annually to the UK economy. He noted about the Maritime Growth Study, published under the leadership of Lord Mountevans. The study provides a compelling analysis of the industry and how a successful, commercially focused, ship register can support the growth of our maritime sector. "We support the broad thrust of its findings, and while we’ll respond fully once we have considered the details, change is already underway.

With the aim of growing the U.K. Ship Register and attracting more maritime business to the U.K., a new a senior level director role has been created at the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) as part of the government’s aspiration to grow the nation’s share with the global maritime sector. The new position, which will be tasked with encouraging ship owners to join the U.K. Ship Register, was announced by Sir Alan Massey, CEO of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at an event during London International Shipping Week. “The UK Flag has seemingly become less attractive to ship owners and operators and we cannot go on ignoring the problem,” Massey said. “. . . Something has needed to change. In recent years the number of ships and the total gross tonnage on the U.K.

After four groundbreaking years as head of the UK Ship Register (UKSR), Debasis Mazumdar is moving on to become CEO of the London-headquartered St Kitts & Nevis International Ship Registry (SKANReg), with a mission to drive further growth for the ambitious ten-year-old Caribbean flag state. He succeeds Nigel Smith in the role from August 10 and will also take over from him as International Registrar after a familiarization period of three months. Smith, who conceived the SKANReg business plan in 2004 and has led the operation since it became active a year later…

The largest vessel registered in the UK Ship Register has arrived in Southampton today. CMA CGM Kerguelen, a 398-meter-long containership operated by the CMA CGM Group, is big enough to pack five and a half A380 Airbuses on. It is capable of carrying 17,772 TEU (twenty feet equivalent units) and is driven by an engine of 9,000 horsepower. Sir Alan Massey, Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, with responsibility for the UK Ship Register, has been invited to visit the vessel while it is in Southampton.

London's Baltic Exchange informs that the achievements of Eyal Ofer, the principal of ship management company Zodiac Group, have been celebrated with the award of honorary life membership of the Exchange. The prestigious award was last awarded in 2009 to the late Sammy Ofer, KBE, father of Mr Eyal Ofer. Other recipients of Baltic Exchange honorary membership have included the Duke of Edinburgh, Winston Churchill, and Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller. Presenting the award Baltic Exchange chairman Quentin Soanes said: 

“We thank you for your services to the London shipping market and the UK ship register. Receiving the award Eyal Ofer said:

“I and Zodiac Maritime have a longstanding association with the Baltic Exchange which will always remain important to us.

The U.K. Ship Register has become one of only around 20 in the world to keep the prestigious United States Coast Guard (USCG) award for excellence. The register, which is administered by the United Kingdom’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), regulates and inspects the ships that sail under the UK flag. It was recognised for the USCG’s Qualship 21 for 2014-15, thanks to an excellent Port State Control record achieved by U.K.-flagged vessels. Qualship 21 assesses ships’ safety and pollution prevention records and is awarded against a stringent set of criteria, including the requirement for a less-than 1 percent detention ratio over a rolling thee-year average. The award reduces the likelihood that U.K.-registered ships will be proactively targeted for future inspection by U.S.

According to the Chamber of Shipping's (ICS) latest Flag State Performance Table, the UK has no negative indicators against any of the 18 criteria ICS uses to assess performance. The Maritime and Coast Guard Agency (MCA) says that 1,388 ships, with a gross tonnage of 16.11m, were on the UK Ship Register at the end of September and, according to Clarksons World Fleet Monitor, the UK's is the world's11th largest register. The average age of the UK fleet is 20 years. ICS emphasised that in today’s global industry…

Maritime London will be leading a delegation of British maritime professionals to Athens, Greece, next month. The high level group will present to an audience of shipowners at the British Ambassador’s Residence on 17 June, 2013. The delegation will be accompanied by UK Shipping Minister, Stephen Hammond, and Sir Alan Massey, Chief Executive of the UK Ship Register. Maritime London chief executive Doug Barrow said: “The Greek British maritime relationship has always been strong and I’m delighted that we have government recognition of the importance that Greek shipowners play in the UK economy.

The 175,343 gt 'CMA CGM Marco Polo' owned by CMA CGM Group joins the UK ship register. The first in a series of three new 16,000 TEU container ships, for the CMA CGM group to serve on the Asia-Europe routes, the ship was built in Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd, and is almost a quarter of a mile long. The new vessel is also designed with cutting edge technology for high levels of performance, safety and environmental protection. Features include a mid-ship deckhouse…

'RTM Cook', built at Hanjin Heavy Industries in Subic Bay, Philippines, first of eight new RTM bulkers to fly the Red Ensign. Rio Tinto Marine provides services to the Rio Tinto Group to ensure that maximum efficiency is achieved in all of their mine-to-market supply chains, a critical aspect of Rio Tinto's mining business. In 2011 they shipped 160 million tonnes of dry bulk cargo and accounted for nearly 100,000 container movements. The company has now embarked on a new build programme, with 15 new buildings to be delivered by the end of 2014.

Atlantic Container Line (ACL) confirm that their five new roll-on roll-off containerships (CONROs) will be built to UK standards. The five new vessels are being built at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co. Ltd in Shanghai China. They are the first of their type ever built with a container capacity of 3800 TEUs plus 28,900 square metres of Ro-Ro space and a car capacity of 1,307 vehicles. All five vessels will be delivered in 2015 and will replace the companys existing transatlantic fleet of five vessels. Following the announcement that the UK flag will be used as the design flag Debasis Mazumdar, Head of the UK Ship Register said: "

I am delighted that ACL have recognised the advantages of building these ships to UK standards and have chosen the UK Flag as the design flag.

We are pleased to confirm that Debasis Mazumdar will take over as Head of UK Ship Register/Customer Service Team Manager from 1 June 2011. Debasis was previously the MCA ISM/ISO Policy Manager and will bring valuable experience and knowledge to the role. He was a Chief Engineer at sea and worked for 10 years as a Class Society Senior Surveyor for ABS prior to joining the MCA seven years ago. During his time at the MCA Debasis has worked as a Marine Surveyor, Port State Control Officer, ISM/ISO/ISPS Lead Auditor and Customer Service Manager. Debasis said: "This is an interesting and diverse role and I am looking forward to getting out and meeting our customers/new ship owners/managers/shipyard executives and stakeholders and listening to their views and suggestions.

The UK ship register has officially welcomed CMA CGM Andromeda on to the UK Ship Register this weekend, when she docked at Southampton. The vessel is the largest Container ship on the UK register at 131,332 GT, 11,356 TEU. Overall she is the second largest vessel on the Register with the Queen Mary 2 being the largest at 148,528 GT. CMA CGM Andromeda, owned by CMA CGM, 3rd worldwide shipping group, is also the world's first containership to be equipped with the "Fast Oil Recovery System" designed to help prevent marine pollution. She was built in by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd, Ulsan, South Korea and delivered on 18th March 2009. The UK Ship Register has 1,557 vessels and GT now stands at 16,482,171.