Funchal, Portugal, Dec. 10, 2024 (Lusa) - On Monday, the Madeira International Shipping Register (MAR) reached the record number of 1,000 commercial vessels flying the Portuguese flag, "a historic milestone", according to the Portuguese and regional governments, it announced.
"This historic milestone for the country and the Autonomous Region of Madeira, of registering 1,000 commercial vessels in MAR, is the result of joint efforts made over several years by public and private organisations," said Economy Minister Pedro Reis, quoted in information sent to the Lusa news agency by Madeira's Finance Secretariat.
He added that the national government "will continue to work to boost the attractiveness and competitiveness of the Registry, as well as to attract the entire value chain of operators in the maritime transport sector".
Pedro Reis noted that Madeira's International Shipping Register is a "key and strategic area for the national economy, namely in attracting foreign investment and strengthening the national maritime cluster".
Madeira's Regional Secretary for Finance, Rogério Gouveia, agreed that MAR "has shown resilient and sustained growth over the last decade, continuously contributing to the increase in the fleet registered under the Portuguese flag".
MAR has recently "consolidated its position as one of the 11 largest registries in the world, ahead of Indonesia, and is now the third largest ship registry in the European Union, just behind the registries of Malta and Greece, having already surpassed the Danish and Cypriot registries in terms of tonnage this year", he emphasised.
Rogério Gouveia said this milestone is the result of "close cooperation between the Regional Government of Madeira, the Government of the Republic, the Madeira Development Society (SDM) and European Mar", which has contributed to "solidifying the country's strategic repositioning as a maritime nation and, above all, the importance of the Region in this trajectory of success".
He added that "this achievement represents, above all, Madeira's strategic importance for international maritime activities, which plays a central role in the growth of the national maritime sector."
"These 1,000 registered commercial vessels also emphasise that Madeira is not only a tourist destination of excellence, but that it also plays a decisive role in world maritime trade," the Madeiran government official stressed in the same report.
The Finance Secretary also emphasised that "MAR has achieved an international reputation for excellence and quality", pointing to the work carried out by the MAR Technical Commission team and the Madeira Free Trade Zone Commercial Registry Office.
In Rogério Gouveia's opinion, "MAR is now equipped with the technical and legal conditions necessary to continue growing, but it is important to base this growth on the creation of new market opportunities, without neglecting the new challenges of the national, EU and international agenda in the maritime sector".
"This government remains fully available, in close cooperation with the competent national authorities, and in synergy with private operators, to continue to strive for the necessary changes to the security, competitiveness and greater attractiveness of the register, in defence of the best interests of the region and the country," he stressed.
Today, Madeira's International Shipping Register has more than 1,146 registered vessels - 1,000 of which are commercial vessels - and more than 210 in the process of being registered.
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