Funny Flags and Australian Shipping

Abstract

A merchant ship may be owned by an individual or by a company of one state, managed by a ship management company of a second state and registered in a third state. The ship may then be sub-chartered, possibly under a bareboat charter agreement, to a company of yet another state and crewed by officers and ratings from a wide variety of different countries. The ship may then sail between states totally unconnected with the ship owners, the ship management company, the state where the ship is registered, or the crew. This web of internationalisation has contributed to the demise of metropolitan merchant fleets. Russell Brennan explains the phenomenon of the "Flags of Convenience" ships (FOCs) and highlights some of their adverse impacts upon national shipping fleets and registers - including those of Australia