An an open ship registry will enable the registration of foreign-owned ships and may provide greater opportunities for qualified Saint Lucians to work, Sen. La Corbiniere said.
A sitting of the Senate took place on Tuesday.
Among the bills down for consideration was the Shipping Ammendment Bill.
Sen. Hon. Minister for Legal Affairs , Home Affairs and National Security and Leader of Government Business, Victor Philip La Corbiniere presented the bill. He stated that the amendments would help make way for an open ship registry in Saint Lucia.
“At present the registry forms part of the Division of Maritime Affairs within the Saint Lucian Air and Sea Ports Authority, and an officer there is responsible for the registration of ships. In recent times the trend has been towards an open ship registry and this of course is to enable the registration of foreign owned ships.
“Within the Caribbean, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Saint Kitts Nevis, Saint Vincent, Grenada and the Grenadines all have open ship registries.”
Sen. La Corbiniere went on to list the benefits.
“There are economic and other advantages of having open ship registries which allow for foreign ships to be registered. It also ensures that owners can choose employees from an international labour pool and in particular persons who are qualified from Saint Lucia will probably have greater opportunities to work on some of these boats.”
All bills presented within the sitting of the Senate were passed including the Burial and Cremation Bill, and ammendments to the Elections Bill and the Tourism Stimulus and Investment Bill.
