AT the Maritime Expo 2023: Flag State and Shipbuilders' Convention held last week, Panama and Liberia shared the best practices which they adopted and implemented that made them two of the top three ship registries in the world. Panama has 8,650 ships while Liberia registered 5,600, and both said more ships are expected to enter their respective merchant fleet in the coming months.

The sphere of operations and coverage of the said ship registries which make these two countries attractive to shipowners are the same areas that for decades the Philippines considered as most important in expanding the country's merchant fleet. Obviously, the shrinking number of Philippine-flagged ships engaged in international voyages indicates the targeted growth trajectory of the fleet has not been reached.