The Vanuatu international ship registry soon may be brought under the recently formed Vanuatu Maritime Authority (VMA), according to an official. Don Sheetz, executive vice-president of Vanuatu Maritime Services (VMSL) which manages the registry, said this might happen when the VMSL's 15-year contract expired in 2008. 'Private management of the registry has been extremely successful but developments may change the picture in the future,' he said. It would make sense to see the VMA move to running the registry in the future, maybe at the end of the current contract or the next, Mr Sheetz said. If so, VMSL staff could be hired to operate the registry as employees of the VMA. The use of the private company mechanism to set up the registry in 1981 had provided nine key elements which might not have been supplied by the Vanuatu Government, he said. The elements were instant credibility, qualified management and infrastructure, reduction of bureaucracy, an apolitical body, quick reactions, team and corporate synergies, efficiency, commitment and motivation, and competence. VMSL personnel could provide management and technical expertise, including seagoing experience which Vanuatu lacked at that time but was developing now, Mr Sheetz said.
