ABSTRACT
Ship registration, primarily a requirement under international law, evolved especially after the second half of the twentieth century into an important and at times quite complex commercial decision for ship owners. This change of nature of ship registration from a legal condition to a business choice, largely effected by the absence of universally binding provisions to determine the “genuine link” between the fl ag state and the ship and by successful and quick industry response to market pressures and opportunities, has had a number of consequences at company, industry, national and international level. Ship owners were presented with an array of fl ag types and actual fl ags in which freely to register their vessels; the industry found a means to improve its competitiveness but also ended up with increased and serious safety concerns; some nations came up with a way to earn revenue and gain some political signifi cance, while others were confronted with a national threat along these same lines; at an international level, new sources of supply of labour were developed with transfer of expertise and dynamics changed. The major issue has of course been the proliferation of the open registers regime designed and established to provide mainly a cost reduction service to ship operators in relation to the option of traditional national fl ags. Today the top 35 maritime countries account for 95.35% of the world deadweight tonnage and 67% of this is under a foreign fl ag, a fi gure which drops to 53.7% when the number of vessels is considered (UNCTAD, 2008).
