The Marshal Island register is doing good on this years Paris MoU ranking (at #6):
I know, now I’ll be “black listed” for posting anti-American facts.
OK, I can take it.
Interesting. A list of flags that get extorted & harassed the most by corrupt officials from shithole countries. I can see why Korea & the US are the main targets & why practically no one wants to detain Norwegians. I bet most PSC don’t even make it to the bridge before they get annoyed enough to turn around & send the Norwegians on their way.
Yes facts are annoying, aren’t they??
Much better to believe in fairy tails and lie than realities.
Sometimes realities comes back and bit you in the proverbial ***.
Just ask Trump when you attend his next maskless rally.
I keep my own rankings. I find that FoCs have more to do with the company that operates, than the flag itself. All the Bahamian vessels I’ve worked on were best kind, Norwegian operated and DNV did the flag state inspections. Saint Vincents, likewise: except older tonnage. Panama: same thing. Liberia, same except the operators are American. Canadian: kinda mixed, not overly impressed actually, sometimes downright worried. American: it also worries me.
New Zealand is not even on it. A country that as an island nation had a proud tradition of seafaring in my lifetime. With the removal of cabotage not one of our ships in foreign trade is New Zealand registered and we are a trading nation.
To lighten things up on an otherwise depressing subject. A small old ex- Baltic trader registered with some flyby register was doing a port state inspection. The crew was Fijian and after looking at the size of a couple of representatives and the size and stated capacity of the lifeboat the surveyor requested the the crew embark in said boat.
With huge grins the Fijians hastened to oblige. The weather cooperated brilliantly with the harbour like a mirror. As more Fijians embarked the smiles got a little more fixed and the flashing eyes slowed. The last man boarded and there was a breathless moment then somewhere a bloody butterfly flapped it’s wings.
Marshall Island Register is doing good in all MOUs and focus on enhancing resources:
Define “shithole” country. How does one know when they are in a shithole country? What are the requirements for being one?
Got a list of them?
That’s an easy one. For me on this forum, a shithole country would be any country that ombugge feels he needs to defend as not being a shithole country. If he says it isn’t, chances are it is.
For me at work, if the custom officials comes aboard with empty duffle bags then I know I’m in a shithole country. If the PSC inspector asks why the dot above the letter “i” isn’t 100% exactly above the lower part of the letter “i” in the ORB then I know I’m in a shithole country. If the whole bay reeks of petrochemical pollution & sewage, the sea strainer has to be cleaned every 4 hours because all the trash & some dick in a uniform is threatening the master & myself over some imaginary environmental infraction then I know I’m in a shithole country. You & ombugge have been around more & longer than me, you both know more about shithole countries than I do even if it is politically incorrect for you guys to say it.
That’s funny.
Political correctness has never been my strong suit and your summary of hints of a shithole country is on the money. On my list are Haiti, Angola, Saudi Arabia and Fourchon to name just a few.
To name a few, Mexico, Nigeria & North Korea at the top. I was on a tug & barge delivering food aide to 3 different ports in N.K. In Nampo we had to use assist tugs to get through the locks. We had to carry hacksaws with us for the assist tug. They had no lines to give us so we had to give them ours with as little slack as humanily possible because they wouldn’t give us the eye back or untie from their center bit. They would just stair at us or scream at us in Korean to give them more line. After our first trip through we figured out they were line thieves & we would cut off about 30ft & be on our way.
“How do you know when you are in a shithole country?” should be a thread by itself.
Looking at that list, looks like The Bahamas is the way to go.