Vanuatu Flagged US vessels?

[QUOTE=c.captain;50728]My question has always been why Vanuatu is a particular favorite for flagging dive support and subsea vessels and that Marshall Islands is the flag of choice for drillships/rigs working in the Gulf of Mexico?[/QUOTE]

Whenever you want to operate doing a certain function, there are always regulatory issues, at times regulatory road blocks, etc…that most every operator has to navigate with legal. My guess is once you navigate these issues and set a par for the course, it just becomes a matter of having done it before, under a certain flag or class, done the research, and it just becomes a flag of choice from experience with these issues. Monkey see, Monkey do. Whatever company it is, they’ll need a Document of Compliance with the flag state and chances are, a particular company will stick with that flag being entrenched in the SMS auditing process.

[QUOTE=c.captain;50728]My question has always been why Vanuatu is a particular favorite for flagging dive support and subsea vessels and that Marshall Islands is the flag of choice for drillships/rigs working in the Gulf of Mexico?[/QUOTE]

Because the Marshall Islands used to be a US Terrritory. When they set up their licensing scheme and regulations they started with US Regulations and used USCG officers that were still active duty as consultants. The result were regs close to the US standard, at a lower tax rate for the company if registered in MI, with inspections that are from a country that is not on one of the “hot lists” for fishy inspections and regulations.

However, since DWH and some of the issues coming out from the investigation, I would foresee some changes in their regulations and inspection scheme.

[QUOTE=BMCSRetired;50747]Because the Marshall Islands used to be a US Terrritory. When they set up their licensing scheme and regulations they started with US Regulations and used USCG officers that were still active duty as consultants. The result were regs close to the US standard, at a lower tax rate for the company if registered in MI, with inspections that are from a country that is not on one of the “hot lists” for fishy inspections and regulations.

However, since DWH and some of the issues coming out from the investigation, I would foresee some changes in their regulations and inspection scheme.[/QUOTE]

Wow, I guess I don’t know what I’m talking about. I don’t know about these particular ships, but one of the biggest reasons to re-flag is manning, plus the regulatory issues, and the responsiveness of the Flag. But I don’t know what I’m talking about. I actually had to laugh at that one.

Anyway, MI’s regulations are not based US regulations, they are loosely based on Liberian regulations. They are not really close to the US regs. The MI regs are online. You can compare them to the CFR’s and you’ll see a big difference.

[QUOTE=Marc0;50782]Anyway, MI’s regulations are not based US regulations, they are loosely based on Liberian regulations. They are not really close to the US regs. The MI regs are online. You can compare them to the CFR’s and you’ll see a big difference.[/QUOTE]

I agree with you, they are close. However, there regs were completed with USCG consultants from the 17th District in Juneau Alaska who were active duty when they were helping them. However, at that time there were problems with Liberian registry so that is why Vanuatu used Liberia because they would get many people using them, manning was easier, and any problems with the Liberian rules were superceded by US rules to make MI did not get on the hot list.

Another reason I know is the guy who was helping and my kids went to the same school and he and I would sit in the bleachers at little league games and talk about it. He even got a “major award” for his work and I attended that award ceremony.

[QUOTE=anchorman;50629]100% US Mariners…The Captain told me.[/QUOTE]

Are they looking for U.S. Unl. guys?

[QUOTE=Bayrunner;50626]No that sounds about right to me. Dont forget that every american maritime company out there would rather pay some phillipino deckhand $75 a day than an american AB $250+ a day.[/QUOTE]

I worked on a passenger ship where deckhands were making less that $400 a month and where skilled ABs with more than 10 years of experience were making about $1000. Its a cruel world out there.

To put things in perspective, a high school teacher in the Philippines makes less than $400 a month.

Now the cruise lines are going to Indonesia where they can get even cheaper labor.

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[QUOTE=Bayrunner;50626]No that sounds about right to me. Dont forget that every american maritime company out there would rather pay some phillipino deckhand $75 a day than an american AB $250+ a day.[/QUOTE]

I worked on a passenger ship where deckhands were making less that $400 a month and where skilled ABs with more than 10 years of experience were making about $1000. Its a cruel world out there.

To put things in perspective, a high school teacher in the Philippines makes less than $400 a month.

Now the cruise lines are going to Indonesia where they can get even cheaper labor.

      • Updated - - -

[QUOTE=Bayrunner;50626]No that sounds about right to me. Dont forget that every american maritime company out there would rather pay some phillipino deckhand $75 a day than an american AB $250+ a day.[/QUOTE]

I worked on a passenger ship where deckhands were making less that $400 a month and where skilled ABs with more than 10 years of experience were making about $1000. Its a cruel world out there.

To put things in perspective, a high school teacher in the Philippines makes less than $400 a month.

Now the cruise lines are going to Indonesia where they can get even cheaper labor.

100% US officers, some local ratings. Doing a float-tel job at BP rig Amherstia.

One less ship to compete with in the North Sea, nice :slight_smile:
To bad it couldn’t be Norwegian manned, gcaptain.com have become tame.