The ADOMS Busan Office, covering Korea and Japan

The Antigua & Barbuda Department of Marine Services and Merchant Shipping (ADOMS) has established the ADOMS Busan Office, covering the Republic of Korea and Japan, in one of the world's leading maritime centers. On 21 August 2026 the Government of Antigua & Barbuda and ADOMS formalized the partnership with Mr. Thomas Blenk, President and CEO of SolarisTech Inc., at a signing ceremony with the Rt. Hon. Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda. Mr. Blenk holds the Deputy Registrar appointment for the Republic of Korea and Japan. The ADOMS Busan Office is operated by SolarisTech Inc..

The initiative builds on ADOMS' regional operations in Piraeus, Greece and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which have strengthened the Administration's ability to support shipowners, operators and maritime stakeholders directly in key international markets. The ADOMS Busan Office is a full service technical office, working alongside the owners, managers, yards and Class organizations that build and operate in the region.

A quality flag, now resident in Asia, at open registry cost

Owners in South Korea, Japan, China, Singapore and across the wider Asia Pacific can now bring everything to one office. Registration and change of flag, certificates, seafarer services, Flag State inspections, direct ISM, ISPS and MLC audits, newbuilding oversight and technical support are all handled by the ADOMS Busan Office. Antigua & Barbuda has been a flag of choice for quality European tonnage since the 1980s. That same standard of service is now available to owners across Asia.

Why owners in the region are looking at this flag

Preferential treatment in Chinese ports

Antigua & Barbuda and the People's Republic of China signed an Agreement on Maritime Transport on 24 January 2024, executed by the Honourable E. P. Chet Greene, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Trade and Barbuda Affairs, and Li Xiaopeng, then Minister of Transport of the People's Republic of China, in the presence of Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Gaston Browne and PRC Premier Li Qiang. Under the Agreement, Antigua & Barbuda flagged vessels calling at Chinese ports are charged the preferential rate for ship tonnage dues rather than the ordinary rate, a saving of approximately 28 percent.

The PRC Ministry of Finance gave effect to the preferential rate in Notice Caiguanshui [2024] No. 24, which applies the preferential rate from 8 June 2024 through 7 June 2029.

The Agreement further provides for expedited customs and other port formalities to avoid unnecessary delay to vessels, recognition of Certificates of Registry and other ship's documents, and confirmation that vessels holding valid tonnage certificates will not be re-measured in PRC ports. On the crew side, the Antigua & Barbuda Seafarer's Book is recognized, with provision for shore leave, entry and transit for joining or repatriation, and the right of any crew member admitted to hospital in the PRC to remain for the duration of in-patient treatment.

For an owner trading regularly into China, this is a direct and measurable operating cost advantage that follows the flag.

Top tier on both port State control performance lists

Antigua & Barbuda is on the Paris MoU White List and on the Tokyo MoU High Performance List, the top tier of both regimes, assessed on inspection data from 2023 to 2025. For an owner trading between Europe and the Far East, that is the flag's standing in the two regions where the ship is actually inspected. All six MARPOL Annexes, the Ballast Water Management Convention and MLC 2006 are in force for Antigua & Barbuda, and the register has grown in each of the last three years.

Paris MoU performance list valid to 6 July 2027. Tokyo MoU performance list valid to 30 June 2027.

A registry with standing

The Administration's Director and Registrar General, Ambassador Dwight C.R. Gardiner OBE, chairs the IMO's Technical Cooperation Committee. Antigua & Barbuda is a founding signatory of the Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, and Ambassador Gardiner has chaired its Port State Control Committee. That is standing at the level where convention requirements are shaped, not merely applied.

Sanctions compliance written into the register

ADOMS Miscellaneous Circular 2025-001 of 14 January 2025 requires Antigua & Barbuda flagged vessels to comply with United Nations and G7 sanctions programmes. It identifies the activities that must be avoided, including concealing a vessel's location or voyage by disabling AIS and LRIT and conducting ship to ship transfers in areas of lax oversight, and it provides that a vessel or its ownership included in the sanctions databases maintained by the UN, the USA and G7 countries will be deleted from the register.

For banks, lessors and charterers carrying dollar exposure, that is a flag with an enforcement mechanism behind the policy.

What the ADOMS Busan Office does

Flag State inspections and direct audits

Flag State inspections and ISM, ISPS and MLC audits are carried out from the ADOMS Busan Office. Attendance is arranged in region, scheduled around the vessel's trading pattern.

Newbuilding oversight in China, South Korea and Japan

The ADOMS Busan Office sits inside the world's shipbuilding heartland. We provide Recognized Organization oversight through the build cycle, arbitration of convention requirements where interpretation is in question, and Administration side support to joint development projects and new technologies as they move from design into class approval and delivery. Attendance is principal led, with more than 30 years in newbuilding, audits and inspections behind it.

Gas vessel oversight

LNG, LPG and ammonia capable tonnage now accounts for a substantial share of the orderbook in Korean, Japanese and Chinese yards. The office carries out direct review of special approval areas on gas carriers and gas fueled tonnage, covering equivalents, alternative arrangements and Administration approvals under the IGC and IGF Codes, together with the associated notification to IMO through GISIS. Review is handled in region, alongside the yard and the Recognized Organization.

Seafarer services

Full seafarer services are delivered from Korea, including Certificate of Competency recognition endorsements, Seafarer's Books and identification documentation, and supporting endorsements, for owners, managers and manning agents across Korea, Japan and the wider Asia Pacific.

ADOMS remains committed to maintaining high standards of safety, security, environmental protection, seafarer welfare and Flag State administration as it expands its international reach.