A dynamic week of Innovation, Collaboration, and Global Engagement
RESTON (VIRGINIA) : The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Registry wraps up a dynamic week at Nor-Shipping 2025. With 16 team members at the conference and adjacent events, the global team from International Registries, Inc. and its affiliates (IRI), which provide administrative and technical support to the RMI Registry, prioritized collaboration, innovation, and client engagement during the conference.
Highlights from the week included active engagement at DNV’s VIP reception and BBQ, the announcement from Bar Technologies regarding the delivery of RMI-flagged BRANDS HATCH, the first new build Long Range 2 tanker, featuring WindWings® technology. WindWings® is a rigid sail technology that uses wind propulsion to deliver average daily savings for the BRANDS HATCH of 4.5 tons of fuel and 14 tons of CO2 on typical global routes. The week also included the signing of a joint development project between Lloyd’s Register, HD Hyundai Mipo, PanOcean, and the RMI Maritime Administrator on a new ultramax bulk carrier design.
IRI senior leadership, including President Bill Gallagher (Reston); Managing Partner Clay Maitland (New York); Chief Commercial Officer and Managing Director, Piraeus Office Theo Xenakoudis (Piraeus); Chief Maritime Officer Simon Bonnett (London); General Counsel Meredith Kirby (Reston); Senior International Counsel, Head of Office Alison Wilson (Long Beach); and Director, Marketing and Communications and Operations Technology Officer Laura Sherman (Reston), attended events throughout the week. As part of IRI’s commitment to developing talent and leadership readiness for long-term resilience, team members Em Gallagher, Vice President, Commercial Operations (Reston); Marius Molver, Maritime Advisor (Oslo); Rafael Riva, Vice President, Client Relations (Houston); and Dr. Athina Syntychaki, Business and Market Research Executive (Piraeus) were particularly visible throughout the week alongside senior leadership. Other team members included Sophia Brown, General Manager (New York); Jason Clifton-Samuel, Safety & Technical Manager (London); Hans Molver, Client Relations Technical Lead – Cruise; Mohammad Sabir, Vice President, Maritime Services (London); and Mike Worch, Vice President, Marketing (Reston).
“Norway has always been an important market for the RMI Registry,” said Bill Gallagher. “This year’s Nor-Shipping saw more attendance overall than any other years in the past, bringing together stakeholders from all over the world,” he continued. As of 31 March 2025, Norwegian owners and operators represented more than 10% of the RMI fleet in terms of gross tonnage.
IRI’s long-term and consistent commitment to high quality shipping continues to be recognized by the international community. At the Advokat firm aet Simonsen Vogt Wiig and Marshall Islands Registry reception, President Bill Gallagher recognized owners and operators of RMI-flagged vessels for their continued commitment to quality, noting that the RMI achieved 21 consecutive years as a United States Coast Guard (USCG) QUALSHIP 21 qualifying jurisdiction. “We are proud to be the first and only registry to achieve this distinction and thank all of our owners, operators, and team members for their consistent dedication to safe vessel operation,” Bill commented to guests at the reception.
The RMI is the only of the world’s three largest registries to achieve QUALSHIP 21 for this year, and the only registry in the world to achieve 21 consecutive years. The RMI remains whitelisted with both the Paris and Tokyo Memorandums of Understanding and has a favorable rating with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. As of 31 May 2025, there were 5,816 vessels and nearly 202 million quality gross tons registered in the RMI. As of 12 May 2025, 26.0% of all vessels enrolled in QUALSHIP 21 were RMI-flagged and 37.3% of those vessels enrolled in QUALSHIP 21 achieving E-ZERO status were RMI-flagged vessels.
