The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has again been recognized as a high-quality registry, achieving an unprecedented 19 consecutive years on the United States Coast Guard’s (USCG’s) QUALSHIP 21 roster as noted during today’s INTERTANKO meeting in Connecticut which took place prior to the kick-off of the CMA Shipping Conference 2023. The RMI is the only one of the world’s three largest registries to consistently achieve QUALSHIP 21 status. More than 1,350 RMI flagged vessels were enrolled in QUALSHIP 21 as of 14 March 2023, representing approximately one third of the QUALSHIP 21 vessels worldwide.

“We take our commitment to high-quality and safe vessel operation seriously. It is the focus of everything that we do,” said Bill Gallagher, President of International Registries, Inc. and its affiliates (IRI), which provide administrative and technical support to the RMI Registry. “We work closely with our owners, operators, and teams around the world to facilitate high levels of compliance, and actively engage in supporting our clients’ compliance efforts,” he continued.

With the industry’s significant attention on sustainability and decarbonization, IRI has enhanced resources and capabilities in key technical and customer service areas to support RMI owners and operators in compliance with forthcoming regulatory changes.

Two key personnel changes in North America: the hiring of Rafael Riva, Vice President, Client Relations, and the promotion and shifting of Tom Bremer to Vice President, Fleet Quality and Compliance, underscore the importance IRI is placing on enhancing compliance and technical capabilities for the future. Mr. Riva comes to IRI after nearly 19 years with Lloyd’s Register where he specialized in LNG and LPG and moved around the world to support their strategic interests and business development. Mr. Riva supports RMI owners and operators from the Houston office, working closely with IRI’s Renewables and Oil and Gas teams.

“It’s clear that the market will continue to explore and develop alternative and renewable energies,” said Simon Bonnett, Chief Maritime Officer. “Our clients need to know that their flag has the in-house technical experts and client support capabilities to answer questions and provide guidance as they determine their path to 2050. We are expanding our team to ensure we have experienced and knowledgeable resources available to them worldwide.”

Mr. Bremer, originally hired in 2013, previously supported the fleet as Vice President, Investigations. Based in the Baltimore/Annapolis office, Mr. Bremer serves as a liaison between the worldwide fleet operations teams and clients, with a focus on supporting clients’ compliance especially for fleets calling on ports in the United States. Prior to joining IRI, Mr. Bremer served with the USCG for nearly 10 years in a variety of port State control and investigative roles.

“Compliance continues to become increasingly complex, and we saw an opportunity to provide enhanced support to our clients by creating a new position,” said Brian Poskaitis, Senior Vice President, Fleet Operations. “Tom serves as a dedicated link between operators and the flag State, not just to support individual operators, but also to be proactive in anticipating and addressing the clients’ changing needs as the compliance environment shifts,” he continued. 

“Compliance is not a static achievement,” noted Mr. Gallagher. “We constantly review our processes, procedures, teams, and capabilities to find ways to enhance and strengthen our fleet’s compliance. That constant striving to do better is how we have achieved this new milestone, and I am exceptionally proud of our team, owners, and operators for the collective efforts that led to this recognition,” he concluded.

Maritime Business World