Quality remains the top priority for Barbados.

(From Lloyds List)

SINCE restructuring two years ago under the new quality standard ISO 9001:2000, the Barbados Maritime Ship Register's focus has been fixed on the quality of the ships on the register and the manner in which the ships are maintained during their service, says BMSR principal registrar Chris Sawyer.

'Apart from the expected annual flag state inspection, which we view as more of a check on the performance of the classification societies carrying out the flag state authorisations, we have additionally the safety watch programme,' he says. 'The SW inspections are audit-style attendances that are periodically refocused to ensure they concentrate on known PSC detention 'hot areas' onboard.

'The SW inspection is annual and is required for all ships over 10 years of age on first registering. For other ships, the programme is voluntary.'

BMSR also operates a condition trend assessment that does not entail any additional attendance or cost to the owner but runs behind the annual flag state and SW inspections.

'The CTA takes two minutes for the Barbados nautical inspector to complete following each and every occasion he is required to attend onboard,' says Mr Sawyer. 'The CTA reports are compiled into condition mapping reports showing both positive and negative trends over a timebase using ...