Why do one in ten ships fly tiny Liberia’s flag? It’s a good way to avoid taxes and regulations SUBSCRIBE here 👉
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LIBERIA’S ECONOMY is on the rocks. The aid money that held the country steady after its brutal civil wars is ebbing and inflation has surged to more than 25%. Many businesses are struggling to stay afloat. But one industry seems to be weathering the storm: shipping.
Liberia’s flag flies on nearly 4,000 ships that ply the world’s waters; the small west African state’s name is emblazoned on the hull of many a mighty supertanker or container ship. Alongside the country’s Nobel Prize-winning president, the fleet is probably its best-known calling card.
But the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR) has an unimpressive office on Ashmun Street in central Monrovia. It sits in a five-storey discoloured white building, featuring the ghostly outline of the now-departed letters “LISCR” above its door.
A company representative declines a request for an interview with officials there, saying: “We would not expect guests at our Monrovia office.”
That is because the registry has, from its inception 63 years ago, been managed from the US. The company that took over its management in 2000 is based outside Washington DC in Vienna, VA.
Two years ago, Liberia renewed the company’s statutory agreement for another 10 years, running from January 1, 2010.
“We’re very proud of what we do, because we do it in a proper way for the benefit of the country, which has had its struggles,” says Scott Bergeron, the LISCR’s chief operating officer.
According to Augustine Ngafuan, the finance minister, the business brings the country between $18m and $22m a year.
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