The Royal Thai Government by the Marine Department is reviewing its practices regarding the national fleet management, which will be piloted by the reformation of the fishing fleet databases and the vessel registration database, as well as the re-regulation of vessel navigation to achieve more effective fleet management. This will serve as an important element in the promotion of sustainable fisheries and the prevention of illegal fishing.
          The Marine Department has started the process of registration database reform by revoking the registrations of vessels which have expired for quite some time but have not been removed from the system, thus making the number of the fishing vessels higher than it should be. In cooperation with the Royal Thai Navy and the Department of Fisheries, they conducted five rounds of inspections of all commercial fishing vessels in Thailand with the purpose of getting the correct measurement of vessels, making the unique vessel identifications, as well as revoking the registration of those vessels that failed to show up. The Marine Department also issued a notification for the suspension of the issuance of vessel registration for two years in accordance with the Royal Ordinance amending the Thai Vessels Act of B.E. 2481 (1938) B.E. 2561 (2018) to ensure that the fishing vessels in the registration database are in line with the existing vessels and the information is correct. As the result, the Department of Fisheries will also be able to make use of the information contained in the registration database for the issuance of fishing licenses, and the effective management of marine resources.
          In order to prevent any vessels removed from the system from illegally fishing in Thai waters again, the Marine Department has set up special operations in partnership with police officers to track the fishing vessels that have been reported sunk or totally damaged, as well as to explore wreck and locked vessels found at ports and waterways in order to remove them from the system in case the owners cannot be located.
          The Marine Department has implemented several measures to prevent the return of illegal vessels to the system, such as providing the list of legal vessels (white list) and the watch list to all the ports for use in the inspection of vessels requesting docking permission, and also sharing the watch list with all the Port-in Port-out (PIPO) Control Centers for use in risk assessments and to determine the frequency of the vessel inspection. The watch list is also used for cross-checking against the vessels applying for new registrations.
          As for the control of fishing vessels, the Marine Department plays a vital role in locking vessels that were refused fishing licenses or were subject to vessel license revocation requests by the Department of Fisheries. Additionally, the Marine Department works in coordination with other competent governmental agencies to arrest and detain vessels while criminal proceedings are taking place. Moreover, the Marine Department has issued a regulation requesting all vessels of size 60 gross tonnes and above, both fishing and passenger vessels, to be equipped with the AIS system, whereas previously only passenger vessels that could carry 25 passengers and above were required to install one. This is another one of the monitoring mechanisms against IUU fishing.
          The Marine Department has also updated the database, verified the accuracy of the data, as well as utilised the Business Intelligence system to handle data processing for fishing vessel registration. The result was 10,339 commercial fishing vessels in the vessel registration system of the Marine Department and this matches the data on fishing licenses from the Department of Fisheries. This enables the search for the status of any vessel to be done quickly, while effectively preventing unauthorized vessels or vessels that were subject to criminal proceedings from going out to fish.
          The Marine Department is planning to reform the fleet management to achieve sustainability by bringing in new measures and technology, starting with the new vessel identification system which clearly states the background of each vessel. The Marine Department will also overhaul the shipyard registration system and link data so that ship identification can be done quickly. The shipyard is required to report to the Marine Department before the construction of each new vessel. Additionally, the Marine Department will install new vessel registration plates on all vessels which will display the unique identification number and other important information, including anti forgery features. In addition, to facilitate the vessel identification process, the saloon will be designated a specific colour according to the province that the vessel is registered in order that verification can be done from a distance. The pilot project for these new measures will be used for fishing vessels from the beginning of 2019 before expanding to all vessels later.
          Apart from this, the Marine Department is planning better management of the domestic vessel traffic. From having only one vessel traffic control centre in Chonburi Province, more vessel traffic control centres will be set up in various provinces. This upgrade of the Department’s capacity in controlling the vessel traffic in all Thai waters is an integral part of efficient and comprehensive control of fishing and vessel traffic. 
          At the ASEAN level, Thailand, through the Marine Department, has initiated an international cooperation platform for the exchange of information on vessel registration. This initiative aims to promote better control and oversight of vessel ownership transfers in order to prove that the buying, selling and registration of those vessels have been done correctly without causing IUU fishing.
          As a part of the important measures to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and to promote the sustainability of marine resources, the Marine Department has put urgent and serious efforts into managing its fleet, especially the fishing fleet. The Department is committed to sustainably reforming the Thai fleet for improved safety of vessel traffic, reduce pollution caused by vessels and the better living of the Thai people.