What price the flag? The terms of competitiveness in shipping

The recovery of the markets in the late 1980s proved to be insufficient in restoring the traditional western registries to anywhere near their levels before the long period of crisis triggered off in 1973. The recent downturn in the dry bulk sector has triggered again the discussion on the role of manning costs and the terms of registration of ships. Yet, as demonstrated by the different impact of the crisis of the 1970s and the 1980s on the various major fleets, the resilience of shipping companies is a much more complex issue. This article attempts to assess to what extent the prerequisites for being competitive in shipping exceed the simple — and simplistic — notion of low manning costs; reviewing the last developments in fleet registration, with a special focus on the Greek flag, It highlights further the different context in which business and policy decisions have to be taken nowadays by traditional maritime nations.