BMA Asia interview with Tanker Shipping and Trade

While Singapore often takes centre stage as the regional hub, Hong Kong has long held a strong position due to its long-term links with shipping and the powerhouse that is China. The BMA set up its Hong Kong office in 2010 and has been steadily expanding across the region. The BMA has built up a strong reputation for taking care of high value assets and is prominent in the cruise and tanker sector, including FLNGs and LNG dual-fuel vessels. 

As part of its expansion drive, The BMA has announced the signing of an agreement in 2022 with Ben Line Agencies to establish representation in South Korea, one of the world’s leading shipbuilding and ship-owning nations to strengethen its presence there beyond its authorised Inspectorate and Recognised Class Societies so as to enhance its quality service delivery. The agreement is further aligned to The BMA’s strategic objective of strengthening its global representation through the expansion of the Authority’s base within the Asian region.

BMA’s Managing Director and CEO, Captain Dwain Hutchinson, said: “The BMA has ambitious plans to cultivate a presence in the major shipping centres of the world, both to ensure continual improvement in the delivery of services to its valued customers and to accelerate the pace of business growth. This agreement with Ben Line progresses the Authority’s critical business plan while strengthening The Bahamas’ presence and we look forward to continuing to provide quality maritime services to our customers globally.”

The BMA’s Regional Director and the main point of contact for activities within Asia, Captain Jahangir Hussain, said: “South Korea is one of the world’s key maritime nations and we are very pleased to have another dedicated representative in the region who can help us ensure that our clients in the country receive the highest possible levels of service.”

Speaking to Tanker Shipping & Trade, Capt. Hussain explained the purpose of The BMA’s long term presence in Asia and its affinity with LNG. “We do not target a specific sector,” he said, “it (business) tends to come as a by-product of renowned quality service. We are one of the biggest players in LNG sector. The FLNG projects came to us on that basis recognising our expertise in that sector,” he said.

Another benefit of the Bahamas flag is its record with Port State Control (PSC). As a flag, it also has the QUALSHIP 21 status (a US Coast Guard initiative to identify high-quality ships, and provide incentives to encourage quality operations quality shipping for the 21st century). The Bahamas is one of  the top of the Paris and Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) whitelists which are industry standards of quality performance and benefits Bahamas flagged ships operating in Europe and Asia region respectively.

“The Bahamas also holds a Preferential Maritime Agreement with China,” added Capt. Hussein, “Any vessel, which is Bahamas flag and visiting a Chinese port, will receive a 28% discount on all Chinese dues.”

This agreement has been in place since 2003 and The BMA, being a Bahamas government owned entity, is able to extend the benefits of the agreement to ships on The Bahamas Registry. The agreement was developed to reinforce and enhance the relationship between the two countries and provides that shipowners of both nations are granted ‘most favoured nation’ status in respect of port access, port stay and use of port facilities. As part of the agreement, Chinese authorities will actively work to expedite processes such as customs procedures and other port formalities to avoid unnecessary delays to Bahamas ships and certificates of registry and other ship’s documents are recognised by Chinese authorities and there is an assurance of proper and fair treatment of crew members and that seafarer identification and record books recognised.

The Bahamas remains active within the regulatory process including taking leadership roles at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and International Labour Organisation(ILO) where we collaborate with industry bodies and other strategic partners, including Bahamas Shipowners Association, INTERTANKO, OCIMF, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) amongst others to ensure goal based regulations that can be effectively implemented by all parties.  We are proud that the Bahamas has been confirmed as a top-performing flag state, achieving positive scores across all 19 categories in the recent ICS’s 2020-21 Flag State Performance Table.