Belize Marine Registry seeks quality over quantity

We don’t hesitate to report when Belize-registered vessels are busted for illegal fishing, drugs, or safety violations. So when our marine registry does something right, it’s only fair to relay the good news. According to an article in the prestigious shipping publication Lloyd’s Registry, IMMARBE, the company that administers the registration of Belizean flagged vessels around the world, is cleaning up its act. The article states that over the last several years the flag-of-convenience operation has changed its strategy from the mass registration of ageing rustbuckets without asking too many questions to the more selective registration of higher quality vessels. The evidence of the policy’s success is that during 2003 and 2004 there were no detention of Belize flag vessels by the U.S. Coast Guard and according to Lloyd’s, Belize is expected to be placed on that country’s so called “white list” in the near future. IMMARBE Director General Angelo Mouzouropoulos told News Five that the registry will continue to seek better calibre ships and plans to further upgrade Belize’s standards in line with the highest international standards.