The Palau International Ship Registry has recently seen a strong increase in its fleet size as more shipowners and operators look to become a part of the new breed of smart registries.
At the end of September 2017, the Palau flag fleet stood at 380 ships with 3,000,000 gross tonnage. The main Palau fleet now comprises 27% general cargo and 20% tankers, with the rest vessels accounting for 53% of its total ships covering all vessel types and across a wide range of countries.
Further, there have been increases in the number of barges, tugs and bulk carriers looking to fly the Palau flag and more recently, a growing number of yacht owners talking to the registry looking to join the fleet.
Panos Kirnidis, CEO of Palau International Ship Registry, said: “Since our inception in 2010 the registry has grown steadily with different types of ships joining our fleet…This recent increase in fleet size shows we are sailing the right way.”
Specifically, smart ships and smart technology in running a fleet are currently driving shipowners to look more closely at who they entrust their vessels to. Panos Kirnidis is using the current world economic forecasts to attract even more ships into the Palau fleet.
“When the world economy turns and the shipping world recovers, progress in technology will be one of the real driving forces. The time to embrace this technology is now. Smart ships are here and so are smart registries. Waiting until the world economy picks up might be the wrong time to switch registries.
“We introduced a new Deficiency Prevention System (DPS) at the end of 2016 through a dedicated department monitoring all Palau ships to reduce deficiency and casualty rates. It’s just one of the advances in looking after our fleet we feel puts us on course to be the smartest of smart flags in 2018.”
