THE Liberian Maritime Authority's report on labour conditions aboard Liberian flagged ships only revealed an average deficiency rate of 0.3 per cent, reports London's Tanker Operator.
"This extremely low rate is attributable to the succinct and timely guidance provided by the Liberian Administration to help shipowners develop their procedures and seafarer employment agreements," said the authority's press release.
The Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR) said mandatory Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) Annual Report "confirmed that Liberia's proactive approach to enforcement of the MLC 2006 has resulted in an extremely low deficiency rate for Liberian-flag ships".
Said LISCR chief executive Scott Bergeron: "Liberia has consistently led the way on MLC. It was the first flag state to ratify MLC 2006 and has been tireless in applying its training and implementation procedures.
"Liberia's first MLC Annual Report confirms this. Prior to the MLC implementation date of 20th August, 2013, a total of 2,238 ships were inspected and issued MLC certificates by the Liberian Administration and its Recognised Organisations [RO]," Mr Bergeron said.
From August 20 to December 31, 2013, the reporting period, 613 Liberian-flag ships underwent MLC inspection, 54 per cent by Liberia's own MLC inspectors and the remainder by classification societies authorised as ROs.
"Eighty-five per cent of these inspections resulted in no deficiencies being found," said the release.
"The majority of deficiencies noted in connection with the remaining 15 per cent were directly related to issues of the sort one might expect following the implementation of new regulations and were quickly resolved by greater familiarity with MLC on the part of on board and shore staff," the registry claimed
Said LISCR maritime operations chief David Pascoe: "The publication of Liberia's MLC Annual Report underlines Liberia's industry-leading position on MLC compliance and enforcement."