Panama's shipping register gearing up for new millennium

SINCE the Republic of Panama enacted Law 8 of its constitution in 1925, it has offered the shipping community a registry that is backed by a network of consulates in the major shipping centres of the world. These include Tokyo, Piraeus, Seoul, Hong Kong, London, New York, and Singapore, and help simplify registration procedures, avoid tax liabilities imposed on profits arising from international maritime trade, and provide an overall commitment to performance improvement.

Panama approaches the next millennium politically stable and with economic progress continuing to evolve. With little more than six months of the current presidential term to go, the present governing administration has succeeded in promoting Panama as a maritime centre of international importance.

The 1994 decree-enacted National Maritime Commission (Comar), successor to the 1992 National Council for the Development of the Maritime Sector, accomplished its goal of drafting and implementing a national maritime strategy for Panama into the 21st century.

After a thorough debate with each marine sector in Panama, Comar formally announced Panama's maritime strategy at the Panama Canal World Congress in October 1997. In February 1998, the creation of the Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) saw an essential element of that strategy put in place.

The PMA is an autonomous organisation which integrates the government's maritime agencies. Merchant marine, ports and ancillary maritime industries, coastal and marine resources, and seafarers' issues are now general directorates within the Panama Maritime Authority.

From its new headquarters in Panama City, the general directorate of merchant marine continues to pay very close attention to shipping safety and pollution prevention. To this end, Panama is a party to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention, and has implemented the ISM Code, in an attempt to improve its fleet standards. As a flag state administration, the PMA issues circulars to shipowners. It provides a rapid service to owners through the merchant marine's head office in Panama City and through the network of consulates abroad. Sixteen bodies - including the IACS members - are authorised to issue safety management certificates and documents of compliance on behalf of the administration.

Regional offices are open in Manila, London and New York to help the head office carry out statutory seafarers' certification and to help ensure compliance with STCW 78/95. The regional offices handle statutory seafarers' certificates from Panamanian consulates in Asia, Europe and North America. The head office, which was previously in charge of reviewing the documentation for seafarers' certification filed with consulates worldwide, is now charged with seafarers' certificates from the Caribbean and South America.

The international financing community has also developed confidence in Panamanian legislation on mortgages and registration procedures. The country's public registry is available after business hours to allow the preliminary registration of a mortgage as soon as the mortgage deeds are filed with any of its consulates abroad. Demand for collateral on loans for the construction, purchase of newly built or secondhand vessels, or for the refurbishment of vessels, meanwhile, continues apace.