He was very explicit that Americans were no where in the picture of his comment.
I have been saying for years that the US should have an open registry alongside it’s closed registry. Personally, I think the key to success is in simplicity and efficiency combined with the weight of a US flag on the stern.
If you recreate the same CFRs, administered by the same bureaucracy then you have doomed it to fail. If your implementing regulations are to follow SOLAS, MARPOL, STCW, etc you have a chance. Invest heavily in RO oversight and build a smarter not harder system of management.
@PDCMATE Unfortunately the articles are written using definitive language like “will” as if it’s a done deal. 46 USC defines the USVI as a “state” and as part of the “united states”. Until they amend 46 USC the USVI cannot operate any kind of registry for international trade any more than the state of Virginia, Delaware, or California can. To me this is just a sales pitch by Northeast Maritime and the Dominica guy but I give them credit for having the conversation.
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What I want to know is why John signed onto being one of the crew members trying to deliver this dumptruck load?
Yep I know it well as it applies to Pleasurecraft as well when you want SG flag
Creates local company offices so good for Singapore but atm they are making it hard to get visa’s so many companies reviewing having presence in Singapore or shrinking down to the minimum.
I haven’t signed anything.
I haven’t given them anything except my opinions.
And I have given my opinions because, unlike marad or any major player in the US flag establishment, they picked up their phone and asked.
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You allowed this bunch to use your name which to me is the same as signing onto this pile. I will put you on the hot seat here…do you endorse this heap and if so, how do you believe it would do anything to benefit the US merchant mariner?
I do not endorse it as is.
I beleive it could benefit the US Merchant Mariner but provisions have to be made to do so.
Right now it’s just a white paper. The devil is in the details and, hopefully, we will learn more about those details tomorrow.
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Fine, but let me ask if you believe this bunch is seriously overstepping by wording their press releases saying this is already a fait accompli when it is anything but?
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Have you read many Maritime press releases?
Can you find me one out of DC or London that isn’t optimistic?
So why are you speaking at their little dog and pony show and not on record pointing out this small oversight to us here?
I am all for John speaking there. He will likely add some modicum of sanity to what will otherwise just be a pie in the sky sales pitch. You ignore them at your peril, better to engage them and make an effort to shape the narrative with some truth and reality.
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I am going too. 
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I for one am not holding my breath that John will walk up to the podium and immediately call BULLSHIT on this plan which to me is nothing more than an idea hatched up to provide benefits to foreign national shipowners by shooting the US citizen merchant mariner in the belly.
Hear hear!
Forgive my ignorance here, but I am not getting exactly why this helps USA sailors.
If Liberian (or whatever) flag ships can now be USA registered but still are banned from Jones Act trade, all this does is earn money for a registration office somewhere.
If it is as above but requires some number of US citizens aboard, that will help a bit, but if that number is higher than 1 or 2, costs will not look good to potential flag-switchers.
If these ships are allowed in Jones Act operations AND do not require USA citizen crews, that would essentially end the Jones Act.
If they do require USA citizen crews for JA trade but do not require the ships be built in the USA, that would generate some jobs as crew and put US shipyards out of business.
If the result of a forming a US NIS register served anyone other than a handful of banks, lobbyists, and mystery owners the idea would never have surfaced.
The entire concept is an insult to American mariners and American workers in general and institution of such a device would be a serious injury.
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Why is it an insult to Americans, if in fact it would be American, run by Americans?
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The concept of a US open register that would bring some American owned monkey flag ships back under the US flag is a good one. I do not see how this could harm mariners.
If the US open register were run like Norway’s, it would provide some American jobs.
I don’t think that the concept of a USVI open register makes any sense.
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I would think SOME additional US jobs are better than the status quo. The all or nothing approach leads to analysis paralysis and then nothing happens.
I have serious questions about this overall but I give them credit for getting the ball rolling
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