A Message from the CEO
Like so many of my fellow Caymanians, I hail from a seafaring background, so it gives me particular pride to be at the helm of the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands (MACI), parent organisation of the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry, which is now in its 106th year of carrying forward our island nation’s rich maritime tradition.
From MACI global headquarters here in George Town, Grand Cayman, where our offices overlook the historic Hog Sty Bay, today one of the most popular cruise ship ports of call in all the Caribbean Sea, we extend an international outreach through our other eight satellite representative/offices around the world, from Ft. Lauderdale to Hong Kong, from Southampton to Singapore, Tokyo to Athens and beyond.
We continue to promote the flag-of-choice of the majority of the world’s mega-yachts at international fora around the world. We were there at the centre of the Mediterranean yachting world, the annual Monaco Yacht Show, as well as the hub of U.S./Caribbean yachting community, the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show (see stories elsewhere in this issue).
Modern nautical history was made here in Cayman with the arrival of the almost alien-looking vessel, Earthrace, which set a new record for the circumnavigation of the globe in 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes. In a dockside ceremony Mr. Alfred Powery, MACI Divisional Director of Registration, HR and Administration, presented a courtesy Cayman maritime flag to Capt. Daniel van Etten of Earthrace, and we here at HQ shared a sense of pride in seeing our Red Ensign flying from its halyard (see full story in this issue).
As mentioned in the previous CISR Globe, we believe one of the most important aspects of the MACI/CISR success story is its valued human resources and we were pleased recently to enact a number of well-deserved promotions amongst our ranks (see separate story).
And, in this, the “Information Age”, we added a much-needed new position, that of Information Manager, in the person of Ms. Susan Dyer, an Australian national with state-of-the-art experience in her field (see profile in this issue). She comes on board at a time when the Cayman Islands Government is on the brink of enacting much anticipated Freedom of Information legislation.
Today MACI/CISR continue to embrace the rich traditions and heritage of our seafaring past, whilst equally embracing cutting edge technology to keep us to the fore of our fascinating future in respected maritime administration.
Joel Walton, CEO of the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands