zoomImage Courtesy: RMI Registry

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) fleet now stands at 223,262,177 deadweight tons, making it the second largest registry in the world in terms of dwt.

The RMI is not only the world’s second largest registry, but the Greek shipping industry’s leading flag as well. The RMI has been gaining market share year-on-year and the flag today has 791 ships totaling 62,190,301 dwt in its registry, representing over 18.9% of total dwt of the Greek owned fleet.

“From long-standing traditional shipowners, particularly our standing as the number one flag for Greek owners, to a new wave of Chinese leasing companies, the RMI Registry is the registry of choice for owners looking for an innovative and quality driven partner,” Bill Gallagher, President at International Registries, Inc. (IRI), said.

Theo Xenakoudis, Director, Worldwide Business Operations and Managing Director of IRI Piraeus office, said that “prior to registration, we vet the owner, operator and vessel before acceptance in the RMI Registry and during the vessel’s time in the Registry we continue to conduct risk assessments and work with our owners and operators to ensure their vessels meet the Registry’s quality standards.”

Additionally, the RMI Registry has recently received preliminary confirmation that it will continue its United States (US) Coast Guard (USCG) Qualship 21 status for 2017.

This would mark the 13th year in a row that the RMI Registry has held its Qualship 21 status.

In October 2016, the RMI Registry attained the status as the world’s largest tanker fleet with additional tonnage joining the registry from markets in Greece, the United States (US), and Asia.

At the time, the Registry said that its tanker fleet stood at 44.6 million gross tons (GT), while the registry’s overall fleet was at 137.3 million gross tons with an average age of 8.7 years.