Island Sun Newspaper

BVI ON THE WAY TO CATEGORY ONE SHIPPING REGISTRY

A GIS Feature By Daniel Singh

Government’s vision of elevating the BVI to Category One Shipping Registry within the Red Ensign Group is well on the way to becoming a reality.
Director of the Shipping Registry of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) Capt. Baboucar Sallah believes that, despite some challenges, the process is moving satisfactorily.
“To become Category One entails a radical change in both the function and scope of work that we have to do,” he told the Government Information Service (GIS) in a recent interview.

“It means that the Shipping Registry and, especially, overall maritime administration in the BVI must be so developed that we will have the capacity to ensure the safety and environmental fitness of vessels on our register,” Capt. Sallah explained.

He added that Category One status brings with it greater obligation to implement and comply with international maritime conventions dealing with safety of ships, protection of the environment and international security.
Capt. Sallah emphasised that the “most important and indispensable” prerequisite for the BVI to become Category One is appointing appropriate professionally qualified personnel in the field of international maritime administration.
In particular, he revealed that Government has given the go-ahead for two Category One Surveyors to be recruited, adding that he expects the appointments to be in place by the end of this year or early in 2004.
The two Surveyors will be assigned to the Marine Services Department, under the Ministry of Communications and Works.
After the appointments, the Office of the Governor, relevant Government ministries, the International Finance Centre and the FSC, in collaboration with the United Kingdom (UK) Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), will be well-placed to accelerate intensive groundwork, which will lead up to the BVI formally applying to the British Government for evaluation and eventual upgrading to Red Ensign Category One status.
“With everything in place, as we hope it will be, Category One status is likely to be achieved by the BVI Government before the end of next year,” he predicted.
Capt. Sallah stressed that the drive to become Category One is “extremely important,” since it will benefit the territory in areas such as financial services, environmental protection, and port and ship security.
“This is something that the entire territory will be proud of achieving. Government will have an administration in the BVI that is able to deal with the total spectrum of maritime activity and public responsibility,” he declared.
Capt. Sallah recalled that the move to ascend to Category One began about eight years ago but that, more recently, Government has intensified its efforts to achieve this status.
In addition, Chief Minister Dr. the Hon. D. Orlando Smith has repeatedly affirmed Government’s commitment to putting in place the measures, regulations and resources that are essential to raising the BVI Shipping Registry and general maritime administration in the territory to Category One status.

The territory is currently ranked as Category Two Registry, meaning that it can generally register ships of up to 150 gross tons (GRT) and pleasure vessels, that is, those not operated commercially, of up to 400 GRT.

Pleasure vessels, by definition, refer to ships used for sport or pleasure, and which are not operated commercially for example, if a particular boat is operated for charter, it is deemed to be a commercial vessel.

A full definition of pleasure vessels is provided in Section Two of the (BVI) Merchant Shipping Act 2001.

According to the Capt. Sallah, becoming Category One will allow registration of all sizes and types of vessels, with few exceptions, such as nuclear-powered ships and those specialised in carrying particularly hazardous or dangerous cargoes, which the BVI will, initially, be unlikely to have the capacity to manage.

At the moment, by virtue of a Memorandum of Understanding arising out of British legislation and signed between the BVI and the MCA, the territory may register pleasure vessels of up to 400 GRT, provided that they comply with a special safety and operational regime.

The Red Ensign Group is a British-based affiliation of shipping registries, which share a common ethos and standards for safety and environmental protection, and is subject to scrutiny and control by the UK Government, through its executive agency, the MCA.
The Registry of Shipping a corporate service to shipping is operated as a Division of the FSC, which is an autonomous regulatory and executive agency of Government.