LIBERIA’S president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf believes the nation’s ship registry must maintain high standards if it is to continue to generate revenues critical to her plans to revive the formerly war-torn west African nation. 

In some of his first public comments, Binyah Kesselly, Liberia’s recently appointed Commissioner of the Bureau for Maritime Affairs, said his president was committed to transparency, consistency and accountability throughout the work of the country’s maritime program. 

“The president and I both share in our beliefs that the Liberian maritime program must be maintained as a ‘best in class’ operation,” he told guests at a reception in Athens to mark the start of a year of celebrations of the Liberian flag’s 60th anniversary. 

“Our expectation is that the registry will continue to be an industry leader in customer service and focus, and as such we continue to work diligently with our agents LISCR to build upon our current successes to sustain and further develop this gold standard maritime operation, thus yielding a ship registry that protects the long-term interests of ship owners, our nation and our global partners.” 

Mr Kesselly, formerly a senior strategic planner for US pharmaceuticals giant Johnson & Johnson is one a new generation of Liberians who have been attracted into public service by president Johnson’s agenda to reconstruct the country’s civil society. 

Rapid growth of the Liberian flag in recent years to 2,800 ships of 115m dwt, some 11% of the world fleet, is encouraging Mr Kesselly to seek new opportunities. 

He had just returned from Japan where his president is due to attend the 4th Tokyo International Conference on African Development. They also hosted a meeting with Japanese ship-owners, aimed at luring them back after their mass defection to the Panama flag in the early 1980s. 

Scott Bergeron, chief operating officer of the flag’s US-based manager LISCR said: “I join commissioner Kesselly in our commitment to sustain and further develop this gold standard, and to operate a ship registry that both serves and protects the long-term interests of ship-owners, the seafarers who serve on these ships and the global environment which we all operate in.” 

Having lost the opportunity to mark its 50th anniversary 10 years ago because of the battle then raging to manage, Liberia said it was launching its 60th anniversary in Greece because of long-running backing from Greek owners. 

Addressing his Greek audience, Mr Kesselly said: “The support that many of you have, and continue to give through Liberia’s maritime program provides us with the resources for that are essential to meet the challenges that meet us for achieving our goals of full recovery. For this our president offers her personal appreciation on behalf of a grateful nation. 

“When she was sworn in as Liberia’s 23rd president, madam Sirleaf made a personal commitment to putting the nation on the path to full economic recovery and sustainable growth,” he added. 

“In just two years we are proud to say that Liberia has risen to meet monumental challenges and has achieved considerable success in peace and security, rehabilitating infrastructure, increasing governance and securing the blessings of peace and security for future generations of Liberians.”

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