delivering their cargo safely, according to statistics from the Institute of London Underwriters.

The ship casualties statistics were released to The Royal Gazette in the aftermath of last week's oil tanker disaster in the Shetland Islands.

From 1987 to 1991, ships with Bermudian registry had a loss rate of 0.04 percent, which matched the low rate of loss of ships from the United Kingdom, a spokesman for the Institute said. By comparison, ships from Liberia had a rate of loss of 0.2 percent, ships from Panama had a rate of loss of 0.44 percent, and ships from St. Vincent had a rate of loss of one percent, he said.

The fact that Bermuda's loss record for ship cargo matched the low figure in the United Kingdom would not surprise local Marine and Ports officials.

Both Bermuda Registrar of Shipping Mr. Ronald E. Bulling and senior engineer and ship surveyor Mr. Simon Hill said the safety standards for Bermudian-registered ships match those in the United Kingdom and are "some of the strongest in the world.'' "Our ships are all up to standard because they have all been seen (by inspectors),'' said Mr. Bulling. "Bermuda's got a very good name in the shipping world.'' Shipping experts have said "flags of convenience'' -- ship registration in countries that have lower safety standards -- are a growing safety problem in the industry.

Mr. Bulling said the Registry of Shipping had no way of knowing if any ships had left Bermudian registration for this reason, but he did not suspect so.

Registration numbers in Bermuda fluctuate, hitting a recent low of 57 ships and 691,000 tons in 1982 and a recent peak of 111 ships and 4.4 million tons in 1989, Mr. Bulling said.

Presently, 106 commercial ships which weigh 3.5 million tons are registered in Bermuda, and slightly fewer than 100 are active, he said.

No ship has had its Bermudian registry lifted for safety or other infractions since the power to lift registry was granted to Government in 1979, he said.

The Liberian-registered Braer was carrying more than 600,000 barrels of oil when it lost power and crashed into a rocky bay near the southern tip of the Shetlands, northeast of the Scottish mainland, last Tuesday.

A major clean-up operation is under way, but environmentalists said a tragedy was unavoidable for the pollution-sensitive coastline, where hundreds of seabird colonies and one of Europe's largest concentrations of otters are found.

Ms Nina Sankovitch, a tanker safety expert with the New York-based Natural Resources Defence Council, said 90 percent of ships, including the Braer , have single hulls. Her organisation has demanded double-hulled ships.

But Mr. Hill said a double hull may not prevent oil spills and would prove "a nightmare'' for inspectors.

"It's a good idea, and we shouldn't knock it, but it has problems of its own,'' Mr. Hill, who works for the Registry of Shipping, said of the double hull. "It means that there are going to be spaces around the cargo tanks which are going to be filled alternatively with seawater or with air, and if not well protected are going to corrode.

"They obviously are going to be a nightmare for inspection and a nightmare to keep well coated.

"It could conceivably mean that the ship after many years will be in a worse state than if she had just one hull,'' though "that is a point of view that is extreme,'' Mr. Hill said.

"It has been said that the double bottom will probably have a lessening effect on the amount of oil spilled,'' he said. "However, many people also say that if the vessel is travelling at any speed and goes aground at any speed, the double hull would not protect it.''