BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, NOVEMBER 6TH 2007 (CUOPM)
Saint Kitts and Nevis’ International Ship Registry (SKANReg) is getting worldwide publicity, especially in the Middle East.
TradeArabia Business News lists Saint Kitts and Nevis as one of the Caribbean’s emerging maritime centers.
Speaking in advance of its regional debut at the Seatrade Middle East Maritime (SMEM) exhibition in Dubai this December, a representative of the Saint Kitts & Nevis International Ship Registry (SKANReg) said ocean-going trade would dominate the Gulf’s rising export industry. “As the Middle East’s political situation gets calmer, trade and exports within the region will grow and shipping will carry 80 to 90 percent of that growth in trade,” said SKANReg’s International Registrar of Shipping and Seamen Nigel Smith.
According to TradeArabia, the St. Kitts & Nevis Government is now touting increased inward investment from the Middle East and is planning to spearhead the drive at SMEM at the Dubai World Trade Centre from December 4 to 6 via SKANReg and Saint Kitts Financial Services, the Marketing Development Department of the Saint Kitts Ministry of Finance.
“With over half our registered ships coming from the Middle East it is our government’s desire to increase investment from the region,” explained Smith.
“We already have over 250 ships registered with a total deadweight of over 750,000 tonnes and are acknowledge by some industry experts to be the fastest-growing ship registry by vessel numbers with an average of 14 ships a month registered,” said Smith, who was in St. Kitts last week to set up a Technical Office in Basseterre.
Middle East companies already registering vessels with SKANReg include FAL Shipping, Dubai Coast Shipping, United Marine Cargo Services, Gulf Energy, Akron Trading and Novstar Shipping. SKANReg is represented in the region by International Shipping Bureau (Dubai) LLC.
A three-pronged conference programme will run alongside SMEM 2006 which will dedicated segments for the cruise, general shipping and SuperYacht sectors. SMEM 2006 will also feature training workshops for travel agents.