Statement from the Panama Maritime Law Association

Statement from the Panama Maritime Law Association in regards to recent publications relating to Panama’s Ship Registry.

The Panama Maritime Law Association expresses its concern over recent publications in the media and social networks that affect the credibility, trust and trajectory of the Republic of Panama, in particular of the Panama Ship Registry that currently occupies the first place in the world with the largest number of registered ships.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is the specialized United Nations agency responsible for implementing measures for the safety and protection of navigation, as well as preventing oil pollution of the sea by merchant ships.

The Panama Ship Registry is a Category A member of the IMO Council, and is a signatory of international shipping conventions and regulations. The Panama Maritime Authority is the competent agency for the monitoring of inspections, seafarers, registration of ships, as well as the entity in charge of the responsibilities of the Port State, the flag state and the coastal state. Additionally, the Republic of Panama is a member of the most important Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), entities responsible for inspections and verifications worldwide.

As a responsible Association, we emphasize that our country’s ship registration process complies with all the international standards established by the IMO and international conventions. We urge the Panama Maritime Authority to continue with the current modernization process that allows traceability and visibility on the situation that is the cause of the recently circulated unfounded publications.

We categorically reject the unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations against the Panama Ship Registry. The Panama Maritime Law Association constantly interacts with our country’s authorities as a fundamental part of the process of registration, processing and monitoring of the vessels that fly the Panamanian Flag.

We urge all parties to follow the official sources of information in relation to any event, incident or situation related to the registry, avoiding false news and unsupported comments that do not generate solutions.

The Panama Maritime Law Association remains supportive of the effective compliance of international conventions and regulations included in the Panamanian legislation.

Our Association bears witness that the measures required for the investigation of accidents are applied based on international conventions and standards on the matter, and we urge the Panama Maritime Authority to maintain constant communication with the governing bodies, the users of the Registry and the public, not only in regards to the MV Wakashio accident, but also in general.