QUICK TAKES

Panama, A Maritime Heavyweight

By Juan Carlos Martinez

Panama has a long tradition in the maritime world due to its position as pathway between the seas, the number of ships registered under its flag and their first class port facilities. This position was internationally recognized during this year´s XXVI (26) General Assembly of the International Maritime Organization in late November, Panama was reelected by 124 votes out of 171 to be part of the A Category of the Council. Category A of the IMO has only 10 member countries which are considered maritime powers. The Administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority mentioned that this was international recognition of the effort, the professionalism, the quality of the fleet, the transparency of processes and service to clients of the Panama maritime industry as a whole.

As part of Category A, Panama shares the stage in ship registry with maritime players such as United Kingdom, Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, Italy, Greece, Norway, Russia and United States. The IMO is a special agency of the United Nations and governs every facet of shipping on a worldwide scale. IMO is based in the United Kingdom and has a budget that is divided between its member countries depending on the number of ships in its fleet. The countries with most ships in their fleets are Panama and Liberia so they pay the highest contributions to IMO´s annual budget. For 2008 Panama paid $4,683,032 dollars totaling 19.20% of the budget almost doubling the contribution of Liberia with the world´s second largest merchant fleet who contributed $2,100,248 at 8.61% of the total budget. IMO was founded in 1948 and Panama joined the IMO in 1958, right before its first meeting in 1959.

Believing in Panama's long tradition in maritime trade the cruise line Carnival Cruises is studying the possibility of registering all of its fleet under the Panamanian flag. Currently Carnival Cruises has 16 cruise ships registered under Panamanian flag and wishes to gradually register the remaining 6 vessels as well making its 22 vessel cruise line fully Panamanian.

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