Vanuatu Expands its Presence in Asia

The Republic of Vanuatu, with an established network of offices, deputy commissioners, special agents and inspectors in Asia – Tokyo, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand -- has expanded its presence in the People’s Republic of China with the recent establishment of an office in Shanghai.

On May 1, 2007, Mr. C.C.Tan, Deputy Commissioner of Maritime Affairs, Singapore and China and managing director of Richfield Marine Agencies (S) Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Richfield International Ltd, officially opened the Shanghai office of the Vanuatu Maritime Registry.

This move is part of the Vanuatu’s continuing initiative to increase the tonnage on the Vanuatu international ship registry as well to as enhance its support services to Asian shipowners. The office in Shanghai gives Vanuatu an advantage when it comes to planning, contracting and marketing to shipowners in China. The new office will be able to service the needs of shipowners 24 hours a day which is very important for a shipping industry characterized by on-schedule sailing, and where a vessel’s prompt turnaround is essential.

The area of coverage for the Shanghai office will extend to all provinces and cities of China with efforts being made to market the registry to all Chinese shipowners, and particularly for all newbuildings.

The Shanghai office will be fully supported by Mr. Tan’s Richfield Singapore office and the Vanuatu registry offices in New York for ship registration and Port Vila for company registration and for all its planned activities including marketing of both the ship and corporate registries.

Vanuatu promotes the ship registry’s outstanding safety record and its low Port State Control (PSC) detention rates, which remain substantially better than the world average in all areas, and its responsive, quality service.

The Shanghai office of the Vanuatu Maritime Registry can be contacted at: No. 399, Jiujiang Road, Room 1010, Huasheng Building, Shanghai 200001, China; Tel: (86-21) 63515115 / 63516503; Fax: (86-21) 63515071; Email: [email protected]