ABSTRACT
Common with most Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) countries, Poland operated its own register of shipping - Polski Rejestr Statkow (PRS) - which was largely exclusive to Polish owned ships for the large majority of its years of existence under the communists. By 1960 a large expansion in the number of vessels registered with PRS had been recognised compared with 1959 and even moreso with earlier post-war years. Rather curiously there was little presented on the role of PRS over the next 22 years and it was not until 1987 that its role in the new Poland, following the crisis of the 1980s became apparent. Until the revised Maritime Code, the Polish Register was dominated by Polish vessels and so generated few fees or taxes or dues for classification and agency services, technical inspections or insurance surveys.
