"This whole BIC exercise is misguided, in the sense that Bermudians are not interested at this time," said Mr. Moniz. "It is clear and undeniable that they are not interested, based on the results of several polls that have been taken."

Mr. Moniz also found fault with the quality of the BIC's first report, suggesting that it displayed a troubling mix of ignorance and naivet?.

"I'm disturbed by the shallowness of the report, for example, in their comments about the opportunities which might flow to the shipping register in an independent Bermuda. They wrote that, 'In a similar fashion, we believe that the opportunities presented for the Bermuda Shipping Register are restricted by our current constitutional status. The opportunities for Bermuda given total freedom to set the conditions of our Registry need to be explained and defined'."

Mr. Moniz thought that those comments showed an ignorance of the realities of Bermuda's position in international shipping.

"That shows a complete misunderstanding of the world of shipping," said Mr. Moniz, "because we only have any credibility in the world because we have the Red Ensign (the national flag of the British merchant fleet), and it was very difficult for us to obtain that. You have to meet all sorts of criteria, and that's why it's respected; you have to have proper safety regulations and crews of a certain calibre etc.

"Bermuda otherwise is regarded as a flag of convenience. The only thing that saves us is that we fly the Red Ensign; if we lose that, we lose all credibility in the world of shipping.

Mr. Moniz believed that recent comments by former Antiguan diplomat Sir Ronald Sanders should be considered carefully by all Bermudians.

"(Sir Ronald) published a book this year, entitled , and he basically said in that book how the Caribbean countries are being pounded to small pieces.

"He was an expert on the banana situation with the World Trade Organisation in the European Union, because in the British Commonwealth, bananas from the Commonwealth Caribbean had been given preferential status.

"Of course, that was removed, and he fought that, on behalf of his Government in Antigua, and now he is fighting some cases involving the US, relating to gambling restrictions there, where gambling companies can operate from within a state, but not outside the state.

"That's discriminatory, in trade terms, and he's fighting that, but from his vast experience, his conclusion is described in the title of his book.

"The fact is that the islands of the Caribbean have been badly beaten in these trade disputes, and so Bermuda either goes on its own, or joins a situation like the Caribbean, which has been pounded into little pieces."

Mr. Moniz noted that the Caricom members were already being pulled in different directions by the temptations of larger regional trade and political groupings.

"There are attractions to CAFTA, the Central American Free Trade Association, and by recent visits to Caribbean islands by representatives from Brazil and Argentina, who would like to get Caribbean votes for the election to the UN Security Council of a South American country, and to the Organisation of American States. Some of those Caribbean countries are being drawn into the South American orbit.

"It's ironic that these Caribbean countries are courted by countries like Japan and China, only because they are independent, and they have votes in the UN and other bodies, but Sir Ronald seems to be asking if we would want to give up everything we have for that sort of influence?"

The Registrar of Shipping was unable to respond by press time.

A shipping source said that Independence would create uncertainty for the local registry, but it was difficult to say whether Independence would make the Bermuda registry more or less popular.

The source believed that the BIC had made these comments about the likely effect on Bermuda's ship registry without having had any discussions with any person in the shipping industry, and that more serious efforts could be made to expand the registry without reference to Independence.