Today IMMARBE Director General Angelo Mouzouropoulos vigorously defended his office's registration of the MV Farley Mowat. He said that there's no way IMMARBE could have known the owner of the MV Farley Mowat was lying when he said that the vessel associated with the radical conservation group, the Sea Sheperd Conservation Society.
The owner said the yacht would come to Belize to conduct research on the barrier reef. Sure, internet releases up to mid year showed the Farley Mowat working as the flagship for the controversial Sea Sheperds, but the new owner furnished proof to IMMARBE to show that he had bought the vessel and that it had new ownership.
But stressing IMMARBE's pro-active role, Mouzouropoulos says as soon as they found out that the Farley Mowat would be participating in an anti whaling mission and, before the vessel could go out, IMMARBE de-registered it because the owner had misled the office. He stressed also that it is a has living accommodations and could be used as a yacht.
IMMARBE currently has 874 ships registered and flying the Belizean flag. Only a fraction of those are in Belizean waters. 61 vessels were refused registration in 2006 - because they did not meet IMMARBE's standards. The registration rates charged by Belize are less than what is charged in Panama - which is the world leader in this industry.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift
