ABSTRACT
International ocean shipping constitutes a highly significant aspect of world economic and political relationships. The rapid growth in world trade and the emergence of new national entities have further emphasized the role of international shipping. Ocean shipping has developed under the concepts of "freedom of the seas" and limited territorial waters with the right of "innocent passage." Ocean shipping is divided into the carriage of liquid and dry cargoes. This is reflected in most maritime trade journals, which provide separate analyses and reporting of the tanker and dry cargo markets and the liner and tramp markets. One basic reason for the emergence of national merchant marines is the widespread feeling that nonshipping nations are treated unfairly and arbitrarily in terms of both services and freight rates by the shipping conferences. Protection of the marine environment is rapidly becoming one of the most important issues in ship operation.
