Kenya may soon open its ship register to attract ship owners and secure jobs for local sailors, the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) has said.
KMA, the maritime industry regulator which operates a closed register, said it was pushing the Government to allow it run an open ship register that would make it easier to lobby for seafarers’ jobs on foreign-registered ships and sea-time training for students. Kenya currently has about 7,000 seafarers who are jobless.
THE ALTERNATIVE
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A closed ship register means that KMA registers only local vessels, not international carriers. Kenya does not own any ships, making it difficult to negotiate for seafaring jobs, with the register containing only 26 small marine crafts.
Under an open register, Mombasa would become a home port for foreign ships, which is projected to create job opportunities.
KMA chairman Mwalimu Digore said the board of directors was considering going the Panama way by opening its ship register and wooing vessel owners to register them in Mombasa. The alternative would be to adopt the Ethiopian model of buying ships, but this would require a huge investment, he said.
