ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the structure of costs in the shipping industry, and the various ways in which the shipping industry has been able to attain cost savings. It also discusses the importance of costs in shipping. The global nature of ocean shipping plays an important role in this. The global environment in which shipping operates is characterised by a multinational legal framework that provides many opportunities to cherry-pick regulations around the world and save costs as a result. The relationship between shipping and trade has sprouted a separate part of maritime economics that focuses on the availability of the relevant infrastructure for countries to take part in trade. Ocean shipping is the main carrier of international trade. The International Chamber of Shipping, for instance, mentions a figure of 90" of the total merchant trade being carried by ship.