The Panama Ship Registry administered by the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP), for the first time, has become eligible for “Qualship 21 Program”, which has been in existence for more than twenty years. This represents a milestone for the Panama Ship Registry and demonstrates the institution´s effort and its human resources in changing working methods and fleet monitoring.
The Qualship 21 program was established by the U.S. Coast Guard on January 1, 2002, and was designed to ensure safe and environmentally friendly maritime commerce. To qualify for this program, vessels must comply with the established requirements, which encourage those exemplary vessels that have been inclined towards compliance and good environmental management.
To achieve this objective, a series of measures were implemented to guarantee the reduction of possible detentions upon arrival´s Panamanian flagged vessels in ports of the United States (U.S.A.), among which we can mention:
• It was made mandatory that all Panamanian flag vessels that will transit or visit ports in Panama prior to their arrival in the United States must undergo a Flag State Inspection as soon as they arrive at any port terminal or anchorage area in Panama.
• By Effective August 1, 2022, the AMP initiated a special flag inspection program that was implemented for vessels arriving at U.S. ports whose PSC history makes them for a Port State Control Inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The General Directorate of Merchant Marine of the AMP, by means of the Department of Navigation and Maritime Safety, in conjunction with the Flag Inspectors, the Recognized Organizations, and the Segumar Technical Offices located in the United States, Panama, among other regions worked to achieve this great objective together.
The national government of the Republic of Panama and this Maritime Administration, encourage ship owners, operators, and captains to maintain the highest standards to ensure a safer as possible to innovative, and sustainable industry, always having as principle the protection of the human life at sea and the environment.
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