UK Ship Register Continues to Grow
The UK Ship Register continues to increase in size with a number of new registrations since the beginning of 2011.
During March and April CMA CGM registered an additional four container ships on the UK Flag totalling almost 500,000 GT. The four ships, all of which were new builds, include the Columbia, Centaurus, Cassiopeia (all 131,332 GT) and the Titus (90,931 GT). This takes CMA CGMs UK fleet to 37 ships with a combined gross tonnage of just over 2.6m. A further two vessels are due to join the Register in May increasing the total tonnage to 2.86m.
Zodiac Maritime Agencies has also continued to increase the size of their UK Fleet. So far this year they have registered six ships with the UK Flag, the largest of which are the Maersk Edison, Erving and Eubank (all new-build containerships of 141,649 GT). Additional new registrations include the Stargate and Westgate, new-build bulk carriers of 17,025 GT, and the Derby, a new-build gas carrier of 45,812 GT. This takes the UK flagged Zodiac fleet to 89 ships of 4.6m GT. Zodiac remains the UK Flags largest customer with approximately 26% of the UK Fleet in terms of gross tonnage.
A further significant new registration is the Spirit of Britain, a new-build ro-ro cargo owned by P&O Ferries. Its sister ship the Spirit of France is due to be delivered in September 2011. At 47,592 GT they will be the largest ships on the Dover/Calais route and can carry 2,000 passengers.
The P&O new builds are notable for being the first UK registered ships to comply with the new SOLAS Safe Return to Port regulations whereby through duplication of equipment they will be able to continue on a voyage to port when any space on the ship has been lost due to fire.
Other notable registrations include the CPO Australia, a new-build oil/chemical tanker of 29,636 GT owned by CPO Tankers, and the Strait of Messina , a new-build ro-ro cargo ship of 29,429 managed by Meridian Marine Management.
Capt Roger Towner, Registrar General for the UK Ship Register said:
Currently the UK Ship Register stands at 17.75m GT; this is an increase of over 11m GT from April 2001 and represents a great achievement for the UK Ship Register over the past decade.
The UK Ship Register is one of the best performing flags in the major Port State Control Regimes, as demonstrated by our high position on both the Paris and Tokyo MoU White Lists, and we remain committed to safer lives, safer ships and cleaner seas.