Another naval failure, Panama falls on the ‘Grey List’ of the Paris Memorandum

Panama is experiencing the worst moments in the area international maritimea question directly related to management by Noriel Araúza, Director of the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP).

MPA is not only responsible for what in this The Panamanian moment is about to lose first place in the registration of international ships, but yesterday it fell to the gray list of the Paris Memorandum to find itself in the 46th place in the ranking of this organization, which seeks the elimination of ships below maritime safety standards and the prevention of pollution of the marine environment.

Panama has deteriorated 10 positions in the ranking, which places it in Paris MOU gray list. I mean, Panama It ceased to be a first-tier country in terms of the safety of its ships and became a second-tier country, according to the classification. This drop dealt another heavy blow to Panama’s flag registration, as its two main competitors, the Marshall Islands and Liberia, managed to remain in the white list of the Paris memorandum, while Denmark remained in first place.

According to order, Marshall Islands was in position 18, and Liberia in position 25, and remained on the white list, as it is called in the information published yesterday by all publications specialized in international maritime issues, such as Lloyd’s List.

They are checked annually in the region Paris MOU about 18,000 ships a year, of which more than 10,000 have defects. The risk profile of ships is determined by analyzing, among others, the following factors: type of ship, its age, flag – refers to whether it is on the white, gray or black list“, the classification society, the history of the shipping company that manages it and the ship itself – in relation to defects or delays discovered or suffered in the last 36 months”.

After this new setback under responsibility AMP and its Merchant Marine Authority, Panama continues to lose competitiveness in a market it has led for many years and which has lost all its luster since Araúz’s administration, as shown by the statistics of ships that have left the Panamanian registry. AMP’s own figures reveal that no effective measures have been taken to correct the decline in the Panamanian ship register.

The latest report of the Department of AMP ship register reveals that last year the Panamanian registry lost 1,126 ships representing 19 million 656 thousand 112 tons of cargo. Even the canceled ships report details the loss of legal representation, stating that 158 ​​ships, representing 6.6 million tons, were withdrawn from Morgan and Morgan. The second company with the most ship withdrawals was Arias B y Asociados with 210 ships representing 5.1 tons. It is followed by GMCG Legal with 32 ships with a carrying capacity of 766 thousand tons, Mulino and Mulino with 19 representing 591 tons, MLS & Associates with 61 ships representing 482 tons.

In August 2022, deputy director Merchant Navy AMP, Demostenes Sánchezhe condemned his superior, Rafael Cigarruista, if he didn’t have the will work on a plan that would prevent Panama from being exposed to the risk of losing its leading position in the ship registry. Sánchez accused his boss of poor administrative management, as he refused to carry out proper consultations on the subject and allocate a budget to carry out an aggressive campaign to promote the Panamanian market. He said at the time that this issue was not a priority for Cigarruista.

‘The cigar player has his own version of this cloudy panorama for the Panamanian Register of Ships and pointed out that the problem is that everything is run according to an outdated management model. But both Cigarruista and Araúz were in office for almost 4 years without being able to correct the deterioration of the Panamanian registry.

IN Quiz about that cigarette He responded by saying that the regulatory framework of the Panamanian registry has not been revised since 2008. Despite this, he assures that they have been able to take measures to only reduce the leakage of ships from the Panamanian registry. “The business of registering ships It is very dynamic and as in all markets it is necessary to review the business model and strategies with which it competes at the international level, these reviews must be done frequently, here the regulatory framework has not been reviewed since 2008, and around This is exactly where we have directed our management to change and adapt the business model,” the official said.