Government of Jamaica
- Date: July - September 2025
- Category: Statistical
Quarterly Statistics Report Volume 4: Issue 4 January - March 2026
The vessel operations side of the Licensing and Registration Unit recorded a total of 428 vessel licence transactions in Q4, January–March 2026, comprising 76 new vessel licences and 352 renewed vessel licences. This means that renewals accounted for 82.2% of all Q4 vessel licence activity, while new vessel licences represented 17.8%. The Q4 pattern, therefore, shows that the operational workload remained heavily concentrated in the renewal of existing vessel licences rather than the entry of new vessels into the licensing system.
Compared with Q4 January–March 2025, total vessel licensing activity declined from 593 to 428 licences, representing an overall reduction of 165 licences, or -27.8%. The decline was driven mainly by the renewal category, which fell from 504 to 352 renewals, a decrease of 152 renewals, or -30.2%. New vessel licences declined more moderately, moving from 89 to 76 licences, a reduction of 13 licences, or -14.6%. This indicates that the contraction in Q4 performance was primarily caused by lower renewal activity, rather than a major collapse in new vessel registration.
The month-by-month Q4 results show uneven performance. January 2026 recorded 170 total vessel licence transactions, down from 277 in January 2025, representing a 38.6% year-on-year decline. February 2026 was the only month in Q4 to outperform the previous year, increasing from 132 to 157 total transactions, or +18.9%. This improvement was supported by both a rise in new licences from 20 to 30 and renewals from 112 to 127. However, the positive February movement was not sustained into March. March 2026 fell sharply from 184 to 101 total transactions, a -45.1% decline, largely because renewals dropped from 159 to 77, or -51.6%.
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