Roadtown, Tortola - The Virgin Islands Shipping Registry (VISR) is being audited this week by three auditors from the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency of the United Kingdom.

VISR Director, Captain Baboucar Sallah, explained to the Department of Information and Public Relations that the audit will seek to determine whether or not the Territory is in compliance with the conditions set out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Premier and the Secretary of State (Minister) for Transport of the United Kingdom.

Captain Sallah further explained that as part of the MOU, the Territory is expected to “operate its shipping registry, not only in accordance with local legislation, but also in conformity with the standards laid down by the International Maritime Organisation and certain other conventions.”
The auditors held an opening meeting with the staff of the VISR yesterday and also paid courtesy calls on the Governor His Excellency David Pearey and Acting Premier Honourable Dancia Penn, OBE, QC to explain the purpose of their visit.

Providing some insight into the work of the auditors, Captain Sallah said “they will examine the ship register, verify the entries and compare the register with the files to ensure compatibility.” He expressed confidence that the audit will prove that the BVI has kept a good shop. “We will open our registers, we will open our records, we will show them everything.”

He revealed that in preparation for this week’s audit, the VISR conducted an internal audit “to make sure that if anything was amiss, we can actually take note of it or if need be, rectify it, so we are confident that we are ready.”

Captain Sallah said every member of staff has a role to play and the shipping registry has provided the monitors with everybody’s job description. “They are not coming to me alone; they will test the capacity of every member of the staff by asking questions about their role in the organisation, particularly about the transfer of ownership which is an important matter and the scrutiny of documents pertaining to this.”

The audit should be completed by Thursday and the auditors will meet again with the staff of the VISR on Friday, at which time “they will discuss their findings, those findings for which they may not have been given answers and which will form part of their report.”

According to Captain Sallah, the report of the auditors will include a section on recommendations, which is expected to outline areas needing improvement and the officer expected to perform that function. Prior to their departure, the auditors will also report their findings to the Governor and Premier.

Explaining further the importance of the audit, the VISR Director said “there are laws governing the registration of ships in the BVI including how ships are registered, what kind of ships are registered, the size and type of ships.”

He added “it is also stipulated very categorically the conditions required to ensure that the ships registered are safe in themselves and safe for the people who work on the ships and for passengers as well, and very importantly, they have to be environmentally sound, meaning that they are managed in such a way that they will be unlikely to create damage to the marine environment.”

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.