The Liberian Registry has introduced a new digital-based vessel registration system for 2020, allowing digital files to replace paper documents to speed up the registration and re-registration of ships.
The Expedited Registration Process (ERP) came into effect on 1 January 2020, reducing the number of requirements for vessel registration and leveraging new technologies to simplify the workflow.
“This is a reduction of 50% of our registration time; time is important and we want to offer simpler and faster solutions than our obsolete competitors,” said Alfonso Castillero, COO of the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR), the US-based manager of the Liberian Registry.
“With the data we have collected accompanied by our software, we don’t need to burden our clients by asking for the same information twice. We want to continue to differentiate ourselves from the rest. We want to make our clients’ lives easier.”
Vessel vetting is now done electronically, with all supporting documents accepted in electronic format prior to registration and post-closing. Class documents are also no longer required at initial registration in most cases, as the data has already been automatically exchanged.
Other changes introduced by the digital system include in-house verification of recorded signatures, and the ability to accept digital versions of original documents.
