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Conference:
Flag State Quality and Regulatory
Governance:
Time for Action.
Designing a Model Flag State
A Dialogue between Shipowners and
Flag State Regulators
19 & 20 September
Divani Apollon Palace Hotel
Athens - Greece
INTRODUCTION
In
the search for shipping quality, the ability of flag states and
the competence of maritime administrations have been increasingly
called into question. The wide gulf between the best run ship
registers, and those which have limited capabilities, has been
increasingly identified as a prime reason for the continued
existence of sub-standard ships, and the difficulty of eradicating
this blot on the maritime landscape.
Regrettably,
the continued ability of the worst performing registers, to
attract marginal tonnage has perpetuated a regime which has
reflected badly on the whole maritime industry, and led to the
"defense mechanism" of port state control being
implemented by regulators concerned about the quality of foreign
ships in their ports and waters.
Thus, the perceived inadequacies of the "first line" of
flag state has directly led to a whole range of other measures
designed to identify and deal with poor quality shipping. And
because regulation finds it difficult to discriminate, all ship
operators have had to deal with this increased level of
supervision.
Dealing
with the differences in flag state quality has proved difficult,
and often unsatisfactory. Issues of sovereignty have come to the
fore, and diplomatic sensitivities have often precluded states
from taking advantage of useful technical assistance schemes
available through the International Maritime Organisation. The IMO
itself has tried hard to persuade its members that the
effectiveness of regulation depends entirely on their enthusiasm
for implementation.
Meanwhile
the search for better flag state performance seems often to have
been deflected by side issues about the morality of open registers
(the flag of convenience question) and quality of a flag confused
by the local legal and financial regime, rather than the technical
ability of the administration. Additionally the increasingly
mobile situation by which flag states delegate their supervisory
powers to others, such as classification societies has been
questioned, and often identified as a source of weakness of
control.
The
series of High Level Mare Forum Quality conferences has clearly
identified the flag state as one of the major keys to a
whole range of ship quality and marine safety problems. A quality
flag state, it has been suggested, will "automatically"
attract quality tonnage; it will police diligently the shipping
which flies its flag and ensure that the standards of the
seafarers and shore side managers are fully convention-compliant.
But conversely, the link between poor performing flags and
substandard shipping has equally been shown as incontrovertible.
A
whole range of questions are suggested. What can be done to
encourage better performance from marine administrations? How can
the qualities of these bodies be gauged and properly audited? What
better mechanisms can be determined to enable poor performing flag
states to raise their standards? Must the stick always take
precedence over the carrot and is it possible to devise real
incentives that will enable good registers to flourish? What are
the roles of IMO, regional bodies, leading flags themselves and
classification societies in this quest for better quality ship
registers.
Flag
state quality, it is suggested, is a form of "regulatory
governance" and it is to probe deeper into these matters that
the next High Level Mare Forum will focus upon this important
issue.
Like
all Mare Forum conferences, the ultimate goal of the conference
is to provide a true forum where all participants are
invited to take part in the discussion periods after every panel
of high profile speakers has spoken directly to the issues.
We
are looking forward to welcoming you to Athens, to the
FLAG
STATE QUALITY AND REGULATORY GOVERNANCE
Time for Action, Designing
a Model Flag State conference,
and wish you success during the conference.
Michael
Grey
Conference Chairman
Jannis
Kostoulas
Managing Director Mare Forum
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