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By NEIL HARTNELL
Source: Tribune
A Maritime School is likely to be established at the College of the Bahamas (COB) before year-end, the Bahamas Maritime Authority's (BMA) chairman told Tribune Business yesterday, as it plans to open offices in Hong Kong and Greece as part of a strategy to become "the top flag nation in the world".
Ian Fair said he hoped the Maritime School, which was being backed by the BMA, the Government and COB, and pushed by "a group of ship owners", would become a "world-renowned maritime school" that would act as a gateway through which hundreds of Bahamians could enter the industry.
Describing plans for the Maritime School as "well advanced", Mr Fair told Tribune Business: "We want to be the catalyst to raise people's awareness of the maritime industry and benefit future generations.
"It's the third biggest contribiutor to the economy of the Bahamas, and it's potential as an engine of change is pretty significant." While the financial services industry was also critical to the Bahamian economy, in terms of providing high-paying jobs, Mr Fair added: "The maritime industry has the potential to employ a lot more people, and it's profile has to be raised."
A former Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) chairman, Mr Fair said his strategy for creating a "a maritime cluster", based on the numerous Freeport-based facilities, would "be to our benefit".
He added: "We want to be the top flag in the world, and are doing some things to address that, strengthening and growing the flag and growing our reputation. We will have an office in Hong Kong before the end of the year, and an office in Greece before the end of the year."
Apart from Nassau, that will give the BMA six worldwide offices, with London, New York, Japan and Germany making up the remainder.
While the BMA already had representatives in Hong Kong and Greece, the physical presence in both nations would give the Bahamas' maritime interests extra presence. Mr Fair said the Hong Kong office was vital to penetrate the Far East and Asian markets, especially given the expanding shipbuilding interests in China and India, while "our biggest group of ship owners are Greek".
Meanwhile, Mr Fair pledged that the BMA's planned mega yacht registry would be created, and start operations, later this year. He added that there were "three things left to achieve" - completion of the LY2 Code; an amendment to the Tariff Act to eliminate the 10 per cent duty charged on yachts; and "tweaking" of the existing Maritime Act.
The BMA chairman said the Bahamas would "never get a Yacht Registry going without a change in the Tariff Act".
He added that the Government and private sector were both big supporters of the Yacht Registry plans, with Freeport's yacht repair facility, Bradford Marine, seeing "huge opportunities".
Mr Fair said super yachts moored in Florida typically had 35 non-ship personnel going on board every week, such as craftsmen, technicians and electrical people. "The spin-offs are huge," he added. "People will store boats in the Bahamas, charter boats in the Bahamas. The knock-on effects are massive."
Mr Fair told Tribune Business that the Yacht Registry will be up and running "as soon as possible, but there's no question it will be this year. Sooner rather than later. I'd like it to be within months, but we've got to get it right. We can't do it half-cocked. We've got to get the right policies, the right legislation, and the right platform".
Mr Fair also disputed Clarkson Research Institute's assertion that the Bahamas had slipped from third to fourth in terms of the size of its shipping registry, asserting: "Our numbers show we have 52 million gross tonnes, which puts us in third place."
With some 1,700 ships on the Bahamian shipping register, some 20 per cent of which are cruise ships, Mr Fair said: "We are about quality, not quantity. We are aware that the Marshall Islands have been growing faster, but they're whole commercial model is very different from ours.
"We think we are doing more to help the world's maritime industry, and that will inure to our benefit. We are about the quality end of things, and that will be the way we want to grow the business, grow the fleet. The Bahamas actually punches above its weight in the maritime industry."
Source: Tribune
A Maritime School is likely to be established at the College of the Bahamas (COB) before year-end, the Bahamas Maritime Authority's (BMA) chairman told Tribune Business yesterday, as it plans to open offices in Hong Kong and Greece as part of a strategy to become "the top flag nation in the world".
Ian Fair said he hoped the Maritime School, which was being backed by the BMA, the Government and COB, and pushed by "a group of ship owners", would become a "world-renowned maritime school" that would act as a gateway through which hundreds of Bahamians could enter the industry.
Describing plans for the Maritime School as "well advanced", Mr Fair told Tribune Business: "We want to be the catalyst to raise people's awareness of the maritime industry and benefit future generations.
"It's the third biggest contribiutor to the economy of the Bahamas, and it's potential as an engine of change is pretty significant." While the financial services industry was also critical to the Bahamian economy, in terms of providing high-paying jobs, Mr Fair added: "The maritime industry has the potential to employ a lot more people, and it's profile has to be raised."
A former Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) chairman, Mr Fair said his strategy for creating a "a maritime cluster", based on the numerous Freeport-based facilities, would "be to our benefit".
He added: "We want to be the top flag in the world, and are doing some things to address that, strengthening and growing the flag and growing our reputation. We will have an office in Hong Kong before the end of the year, and an office in Greece before the end of the year."
Apart from Nassau, that will give the BMA six worldwide offices, with London, New York, Japan and Germany making up the remainder.
While the BMA already had representatives in Hong Kong and Greece, the physical presence in both nations would give the Bahamas' maritime interests extra presence. Mr Fair said the Hong Kong office was vital to penetrate the Far East and Asian markets, especially given the expanding shipbuilding interests in China and India, while "our biggest group of ship owners are Greek".
Meanwhile, Mr Fair pledged that the BMA's planned mega yacht registry would be created, and start operations, later this year. He added that there were "three things left to achieve" - completion of the LY2 Code; an amendment to the Tariff Act to eliminate the 10 per cent duty charged on yachts; and "tweaking" of the existing Maritime Act.
The BMA chairman said the Bahamas would "never get a Yacht Registry going without a change in the Tariff Act".
He added that the Government and private sector were both big supporters of the Yacht Registry plans, with Freeport's yacht repair facility, Bradford Marine, seeing "huge opportunities".
Mr Fair said super yachts moored in Florida typically had 35 non-ship personnel going on board every week, such as craftsmen, technicians and electrical people. "The spin-offs are huge," he added. "People will store boats in the Bahamas, charter boats in the Bahamas. The knock-on effects are massive."
Mr Fair told Tribune Business that the Yacht Registry will be up and running "as soon as possible, but there's no question it will be this year. Sooner rather than later. I'd like it to be within months, but we've got to get it right. We can't do it half-cocked. We've got to get the right policies, the right legislation, and the right platform".
Mr Fair also disputed Clarkson Research Institute's assertion that the Bahamas had slipped from third to fourth in terms of the size of its shipping registry, asserting: "Our numbers show we have 52 million gross tonnes, which puts us in third place."
With some 1,700 ships on the Bahamian shipping register, some 20 per cent of which are cruise ships, Mr Fair said: "We are about quality, not quantity. We are aware that the Marshall Islands have been growing faster, but they're whole commercial model is very different from ours.
"We think we are doing more to help the world's maritime industry, and that will inure to our benefit. We are about the quality end of things, and that will be the way we want to grow the business, grow the fleet. The Bahamas actually punches above its weight in the maritime industry."
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