Head of Operations at Svitzer Albert Snoie receives the certificate of registration for the vessel Svitzer Hannah from Premier Dr the Hon D. Orlando Smith. Photo: VINO

Head of Operations at Svitzer Albert Snoie making brief remarks. Photo: VINO

Premier Dr the Hon D. Orlando Smith hands over the official VI flag, which will be flown by the Svitzer Hannah, to Head of Operations of Svitzer Albert Snoie. Photo: VINO

This was revealed at a press conference hosted by Premier Dr the Honourable D. Orlando Smith at his conference room at the Central Administration Complex.

Since 1833, Svitzer has provided safety and support at sea. They are a global market leader in towage and emergency response with a fleet of 430 vessels in 100 locations worldwide, and have set up an office in the VI.

Svitzer which is one of the largest towing and salvage firms in the word is a subsidiary of container conglomerate Maersk. It was attracted to the VI after the local Shipping Registry was upgraded to Category one, enabling it to register all classes and size of ships.

Head of Operations of Svitzer Albert Snoie disclosed that his company will be registering a further 20 vessels in the territory during next year.

“I am fairly confident that this is the start of a very good and long relationship. This is special for us… something we have been looking forward to for quite a while [since 2002],” said Snoie.

He said too that the shipping industry is a very conservative one globally, and Svitzer Americas Limited would not have its vessels registered in the territory had it not reached and surpassed international standards if the territory had not demonstrated and surpassed internationally accepted standards.

Premier Smith said that the decision of Svitzer Americas to open an office in the territory and to register their vessels under the Virgin Islands flag is clear evidence that the government is moving in the right direction in the ship registration industry.

Premier Smith underscored the importance of the Shipping Registry being upgraded to Category 1 while noting that the territory has already registered more than 3,700 marine vessels,

He called it an historic occasion for government of the Virgin Islands, through the Virgin Islands Shipping Registry as its key maritime administration arm, which he said continues to move forward with purposeful resolve “to make this area of our economy stronger and more vibrant.”

Premier Smith said that in the territory’s push to be responsive to its clientele particularly in the European market, “this year my government opened a London office of the Virgin Islands Shipping Registry, and placed a Business Development Manager to market the registry, respond to clients in the UK and EU sector, as well as attend to their survey, certification and registration needs.