The Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology

Palau reaches out with digital services

(Posted on 14/04/20)

Driving the push towards a world economic recovery once the Covid-19 pandemic has eased will fall to global supply chains and the world’s shipping fleet according to Palau International Ship Registry (PISR).

With increasing pressures on the world’s shipping industry as international lockdowns bite, PISR is working as normal to help ship owners with its range of services digitally available regardless of time or location and continues to guarantee same day delivery for all services.

The registry’s services are all digital which protects the staff, Deputy Registrars and all stakeholders. These services have been working successfully and reliably for the past couple of years and PISR will be continuing to operate round the clock to ensure the Palau registered ships are still operating and keeping both staff and stakeholders safe during the pandemic.

Panos Kirnidis, CEO of Palau International Ship Registry, says it is vital that the world’s shipping fleet continues to operate as normally as possible.

“COVID-19 has already had a profound effect on the global maritime industry and the situation is changing daily. PISR has three words we are using during this pandemic to ensure our operations and those working with us, along with the ship owners we work for, are first and foremost: Care, Support and Contactless. We are available online, on the phone, by email, social media and through our website for any requests for help and support from our fleet.

With this pandemic likely to continue for some time, at PISR we have not changed our way of working but we have changed our place of operations. By having a digital operation and our services online we can guarantee same day delivery to both offices and ships of certificates and the rest of our services, most within a matter of seconds. This is what the world’s shipping fleet needs because they will be the driving force behind a global economic recovery.

“Our investment in becoming a SMART registry and having our services digital means we can keep our staff safe with remote working and still maintain the high standards we have set for ship owners over the past two years. We are offering a time and cost saving service that is reducing the administrative burden on ship owners. In fact, ship owners can even register their vessels with us using a smartphone. Whatever the enquiry we are still conducting business as usual: we can meet the needs of our fleet for certificates, registrations as well as online payments. All this is part of our determination to ensure business as usual and keep everyone safe in the process. Although we cannot be certain at this time about how the situations regarding inspections and port services are going to affected globally, what we can be certain of is that we stand firmly behind our ship owners.

“Ship owners can connect with any of our employees instantly by using our Customer Care Line even though we are all working remotely during this period. By using our website online chat function we can help with enquiries and connect callers directly with relevant staff members for specific issues. Information on fees, service requirements, applications, documents and processes can be accessed via our online Fee Calculator and online Service Requirements link. In order to avoid visits to the bank and make the life easier and safer at this time we have on our website an Online Payment tool for payments of invoices online even if the service/s were not ordered online.