The Isle of Man Ship Registry (IOMSR) says it will become the first flag to cut fees for vessels using “green” technology.
The registry will knock 15% of the cost of annual registration to encourage owners to reduce emissions.
The reduction is available to operators of cargo and passenger vessels investing in biofuel or other alternative fuels, wind power or shore-side energy technology.
The new proposals will be submitted to the island’s parliament, the Tynwald, in March.
The flag state hopes to introduce the measures from 1 April.
Registry director Cameron Mitchell said IOMSR is a progressive flag state looking at ambitious ways to take action on decarbonisation.
“There is so much debate in the sector regarding which alternative fuels will be best in the future which conversely can create confusion and delay innovation,” he added.
“We want to jump-start work in this area with this new green registration fee and state clearly that if you are a shipping line making steps towards hitting International Maritime Organization greenhouse gas emissions targets, the Isle of Man flag will reward you,” Mitchell added.
New ships wanted
The director wants to welcome more new, greener ships to the fleet.
In November 2020, the registry became the first flag state to join the Getting to Zero Coalition.
Established in 2019, the Coalition is a partnership between the Global Maritime Forum, the Friends of Ocean Action and the World Economic Forum.
Its members include more than 120 organisations from the maritime, energy, infrastructure and finance sectors.
The Coalition aims to develop and deploy commercially viable, deep-sea zero-emission vessels by 2030.
The Isle of Man’s minister for enterprise, Alex Allinson, said the government has made a clear commitment to sustainability.
“Initiatives like these contribute to our wider decarbonisation agenda, as well as demonstrating our commitment to innovation and building a world-class ship registry,” he added.
The IOMSR stands at 17 in UK shipbroker Clarksons’ list of the biggest flag states.
It has around 400 ships and 14m gt under its flag.
The registry has previously held the top spot on the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MOU) white list.
The IOMSR was the first flag to issue acceptance of a modification for a VLGC to run on LPG as a greener fuel for Oslo-listed owner BW LPG.
