The Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) revealed this week that Prime Minister, Perry Christie has named the new members of the Bahamas Maritime Authority, and charged them with responsibility for monitoring maritime activity, and increasing the jurisdiction’s Ship Registry.
According to the BFSB: ‘The BMA is responsible for ship registrations; ship inspections; manning and the issuing of crew licenses; investigation of casualties; follow up to port state interventions; maritime policy issues; and finance and administration’.
Anthony McKinney and Peter Goulandris were appointed Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the board respectively.
In a report released on Tuesday, the Bahamas Financial Services Board announced that the Bahamian Ship Registry is thought to be the third largest in the world, with some 1,400 ships weighing in at more than 34 million gross tons on its books. The jurisdiction also claims to have the fastest growing ship register amongst the world’s major flag states.
According to the BFSB: ‘Its success can be attributed to many of the factors which have positioned the country as a leading financial services centre: a progressive legislative and judicial system, political stability, neutral tax regime, (and) competitive fees.’
