Roadtown, Tortola - The Virgin Islands Shipping Registry (VISR) has received top marks from auditors of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Ian Lardner, one of two auditors who visited the Territory last week, told the Department of Information and Public Relations he is satisfied with the operation of the registry.

“We are quite happy that everything is in place at the moment for the number of vessels they got but we want to make sure that things are in place as the registry expands,” Mr. Lardner said.
As part of the audit, Mr. Lardner and his colleague Mr. Graham Carnegie held opening and closing meetings with the staff of the VISR, engaged in individual discussions with the employees, reviewed the vessel files and looked at examples of the ship registration process.

“We got the registry’s staff to take us through the various steps they are involved with when registering ships. There are not set questions but we have to ask how the registry is performing in terms of complying with national, regional and international obligations for the registration of ships,” Mr. Lardner explained.

He added that the auditors’ report will among other things look at the standards for seafarer training and certification, standards for surveying and for inspecting ships, the relevant procedures and the quality assurance manual.

The VISR achieved Category One status in June last year, allowing it to register larger ships and Mr. Lardner said one of their duties was to ensure that the relevant processes and documents are in place to efficiently deal with these vessels.

 “Obviously the registry is going to be growing; we are confident of that and the MCA wants to see that the registry does grow because it has economic benefits for the island. So we want to make sure that as it grows the staff members are familiar with what needs to happen and the procedures they need to follow.”

VISR Director Captain Baboucar Sallah told the Department of Information and Public Relations he is not at all surprised by the findings of the auditors. Prior to last week’s review by the UK auditors, the VISR had conducted an internal audit.

 “We were confident but not complacent. This is a field of human activity, we never expected perfection but we made sure that we rallied the whole team and the entire staff of the registry pulled their weight and they all dealt with the auditors honestly, truthfully and openly,” the VISR Director stated.

Captain Sallah expressed immense pride in the VISR team. “Every one of them rallied around to let the auditors know and see what they do and how they do it and also why they do it. I am not surprised that the auditors have been quite satisfied with what they found.”

Despite the positive review, Captain Sallah said there is still room for improvement. “We will not rest on our laurels, we will do our best to try and achieve higher levels of performance for ourselves and for the Virgin Islands Shipping Registry.”

The VISR staff also came in for high praise from the auditors for their hospitality. The next audit of the Virgin Islands Shipping Registry is expected in 2013.

The Virgin Islands Shipping Registry is the Government agency responsible for implementing maritime policies on shipping operations, safety of life at sea, security and the prevention of, and response to, pollution from ships.