Yoram Cohen, founder of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR), managers of shipping’s second-largest flag, has died.
In a statement announcing his death, LISCR credited Cohen with stabalising the Liberian Registry, beginning in the late 1990s and helping drive its growth and expansion globally through much of the 2000s.
In 2016, Cohen was succeeded by his two sons, Adam and Elan, as chairmen of the Liberian Registry but he remained a guiding figure and mentor within LISCR.
“Yoram was a consummate optimist and risk-taker. So original in everything he did.
“He rescued the registry during an acutely difficult time and made it flourish. His creative imagination was unmatched, and allowed him to build multiple businesses and commercial teams,” Adam and Elan, said in a joint statement.
The flag is shipping’s second-largest ship register and at the current pace of growth seems likely to take over from Panama to become its largest sometime this year.
LISCR said Cohen was widely admired for his commitment to shipowner clients and for his efforts in innovating the flag industry.
LISCR said he would be remembered in the organisation for his “sharp commercial vision and unique sense of humour”.
He was also a businessman who led numerous successful international ventures in the maritime industry and telecommunications sector.
“He was a mentor to so many and is responsible for so much of Liberia’s local economic development.
“He was a pillar in the various industries and countries that he worked in. We are so proud of who he was and what he built,” said Adam and Elan.
