Will Ulan Bator be painted on the hull?
The U.S. Maritime Administration said it has approved the sale and transfer of five vessels, including a tug and barge that the buyers plan to register in Mongolia.
MarAd said earlier this month it approved an application filed by Western Overseas Inc., of Toledo, Ohio, for the sale of two vessels, the tug Seabulk Magnachem and barge SCC 3902, to Snow Drop Co. Ltd., a British Virgin Island corporation.
It also approved “transfer of said vessels to Mongolia registry and flag.”
Mongolia, of course, is a landlocked county located between Russia and China, hundreds of miles from the Pacific Ocean.
Mike Hanson, a vice president of International Marketing Strategies, publishers of the newsletter International Ship Registry Review, and the annual directory Official Guide to Ship Registries, said that while he is aware of the Mongolian registry, he has been unable to obtain information about it.
Officials from Western Overseas were not available for additional information.
MarAd also approved:
' An application filed by Rowan Cos. Inc., of Houston, for the transfer of the mobile offshore drilling unit Hank Boswell to Marshall Islands registry and flag.
' An application filed by Mobro Marine. Inc., of Green Cove Springs, Fla., for sale of freight barge MB 5500 and its transfer to Construction Norberto Odebrecht, S.A. a Venezuelan corporation, and transfer of the barge Venezuelan registry and flag.
* An application filed by Verde Metals LLC, of Brownsville, Texas, for the sale of tank barge DBL 152 and its transfer to the Panamanian registry and flag.
