ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 examines the global structure of the shipping industry. The common practice of ‘flagging out’ has made maritime shipping a global industry and has enabled ship owners to optimise their operations by spreading their businesses across several countries and to employ seafarers from a global labour market. As shipping operations are international in scope, regulations are adopted at international forums, such as in the IMO and the ILO, and enforced by a number of regulatory actors including flag states, port states, classification societies, insurance companies, and other non-governmental organisations. These regulatory actors and their enforcement mechanisms are explained in this chapter. Finally, this chapter discusses the responses of the ITF, which represents maritime labour, to the globalisation of the industry.
