‘Marshall Islands’- is located near the
equator in the Pacific Ocean; geographically, part of the larger island group
of Micronesia. The country's population is spread out over 24 coral atolls,
comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. It is reported that the tiny island republic in the Pacific
Ocean, made an impassioned plea to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
seeking initiation of proceedings against India for not pursuing nuclear disarmament,
but India is yet to file response to it.
Flag of convenience
[FOC] is the business practice of
registering a merchant ship in a sovereign state different from that of the
ship's owners, and flying that state's civil ensign on the ship. Ships are
registered under flags of convenience to reduce operating costs or avoid the
regulations of the owner's country. This
term has been in vogue since 1950s and vessels with FOC are considered
inferior. In 1968, Liberia grew to surpass the United Kingdom as the world's
largest shipping register and, as of 2009, more than half of the world’s
merchant ships were registered with open registries, with Panama, Liberia, and
Marshall Islands flags accounting for almost 40% of the entire world fleet as
calculated by tonnage.
To
the Q whether it is – Flag, Crew or Cargo, which determines the definition of a
US flag ship – the answer would be the ship flying the U.S. flag. But such a
ship has to use an American crew, follow U.S. safety rules, and be built in a
U.S. shipyard. That's very expensive. So many ships become "flags of
convenience." These are the flags from countries that typically have no
restrictions on what nationality your crew should be (or how much they should
be paid) or where such ship should be built
or repaired.
U.S. has a lot of
government-related cargo moving around the world, like military supplies or
disaster relief aid funded by U.S. tax dollars.
The politicos an decision makers feel that those cargoes should move on
U.S. ships. And so over the decades laws have been enacted to require just
that. Paradoxically, the U.S. does not have enough home-grown shipping capacity
to handle all its cargo. Some foreign lines are allowed to fly the U.S. flags
on portions of their fleet in exchange for a retainer and a guarantee of ship
space when needed. Another complication,
is ship may be owned by one, operated by another and chartered to another.
On April 28, the
government of Iran seized the Maersk
Tigris cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The ship and its 24 crew were held captive and released much later.
The ship was flying the flag of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the
United States has a treaty obligation to defend the Marshall Islands the same
as the United States. The Tigris is owned by Oaktree, an American private
equity fund, and has been leased long-term to the Danish company Maersk Line;
its daily operations are conducted by Rickmers Shipmanagement, a company with
offices in Germany and Singapore. The Tigris crew is Asians and Europeans. It
is registered as a Marshall Islands ship, as a “flag of convenience.” The Pentagon lawyers had a plausible argument that
the Compact’s obligation that the U.S. defend the Marshalls “as the United
States and its citizens are defended” does not encompass the Tigris Maersk.
In
another perspective, NY Times reported that the tiny Republic of the Marshall
Islands has taken on a vital role in international shipping, with its flag
flying over the third-largest number of ships in the world.Its
foreign minister showed up at a recent
meeting of the International Maritime Organization and proposed limiting the
amount of climate-warming gases that the shipping industry could emit, causing a stir. “It’s a matter of survival for us,” Tony de
Brum, the minister of foreign affairs, said by telephone. The Marshall Islands
consist of low-lying coral atolls that could be swamped by rising sea levels
associated with climate change. “We cannot address climate change without
looking at all the components that are contributing to the problem of
emissions,” Mr. de Brum said.
The Marshall
Islands’ call for greenhouse gas reduction targets for shipping failed to win
approval at the I.M.O., which is a United Nations agency that establishes rules
for international shipping. But it has reinvigorated the debate about how to
control carbon pollution from shipping, which accounted for about 2.8 percent
of global greenhouse gas emissions between 2007 and 2012, according to a report
last year by the I.M.O. Emissions from the sector are projected to rise
anywhere from 50 percent to 250 percent by 2050 under “business as usual”
scenarios, the report found. In April, the European Union approved a
regulation, scheduled to take effect in 2018, that will allow it to collect
information on the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from large ships
docking in its ports.The European Union does not cover international shipping
in its greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system.
The shipping
industry resisted the European Union rule, saying that it would reveal
proprietary information about ships and their cargo. More broadly, shipping
officials maintain that their industry is already highly efficient, compared
with other forms of transportation, and contend that measures are in place to
increase the energy efficiency of ships.Shipowners and builders need to take measures to increase energy efficiency.
Currently many large ships are steaming across the ocean more slowly than their
engine capacity allows, which saves fuel, though experts say that could change
as demand, which has been lagging, picks up. The designs of ship parts like the
propeller, the hull and the engine are likely to become more efficient. Most ships run on diesel, but the world’s
first container ship capable of running on liquefied natural gas will make its
inaugural commercial voyage around mid-October, between the United States and
Puerto Rico.
For
the Marshall Islands, the clash between shipping and stopping climate change
has recently been thrust into the spotlight by accidents involving drilling
rigs registered to the nation.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
26th Jun
2o15.
Society Magazine
Marshall Islands Call for Greenhouse Gas Reduction ~ Ship Registration and Flag
Posted on the 05 July 2015 by Sampathkumar Sampath
Just
like Motor vehicles registered in Regional Transport Office, Ocean going ships
are also registered. Ship registration
is the process by which a ship is documented and given nationality of the
country that the ship has been documented to. The nationality allows a ship to
travel internationally as it is proof of ownership of the vessel. International law requires that every
merchant ship be registered in a country, called its flag state. The organization which actually registers
the ship is known as its registry. A registry that is open only to ships of its
own nation is known as a traditional or national registry. Registries that are
open to foreign-owned ships are known as open registries, and some of these are
classified as flags of convenience.
‘Marshall Islands’- is located near the
equator in the Pacific Ocean; geographically, part of the larger island group
of Micronesia. The country's population is spread out over 24 coral atolls,
comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. It is reported that the tiny island republic in the Pacific
Ocean, made an impassioned plea to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
seeking initiation of proceedings against India for not pursuing nuclear disarmament,
but India is yet to file response to it.
Flag of convenience
[FOC] is the business practice of
registering a merchant ship in a sovereign state different from that of the
ship's owners, and flying that state's civil ensign on the ship. Ships are
registered under flags of convenience to reduce operating costs or avoid the
regulations of the owner's country. This
term has been in vogue since 1950s and vessels with FOC are considered
inferior. In 1968, Liberia grew to surpass the United Kingdom as the world's
largest shipping register and, as of 2009, more than half of the world’s
merchant ships were registered with open registries, with Panama, Liberia, and
Marshall Islands flags accounting for almost 40% of the entire world fleet as
calculated by tonnage.
To
the Q whether it is – Flag, Crew or Cargo, which determines the definition of a
US flag ship – the answer would be the ship flying the U.S. flag. But such a
ship has to use an American crew, follow U.S. safety rules, and be built in a
U.S. shipyard. That's very expensive. So many ships become "flags of
convenience." These are the flags from countries that typically have no
restrictions on what nationality your crew should be (or how much they should
be paid) or where such ship should be built
or repaired.
U.S. has a lot of
government-related cargo moving around the world, like military supplies or
disaster relief aid funded by U.S. tax dollars.
The politicos an decision makers feel that those cargoes should move on
U.S. ships. And so over the decades laws have been enacted to require just
that. Paradoxically, the U.S. does not have enough home-grown shipping capacity
to handle all its cargo. Some foreign lines are allowed to fly the U.S. flags
on portions of their fleet in exchange for a retainer and a guarantee of ship
space when needed. Another complication,
is ship may be owned by one, operated by another and chartered to another.
On April 28, the
government of Iran seized the Maersk
Tigris cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The ship and its 24 crew were held captive and released much later.
The ship was flying the flag of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the
United States has a treaty obligation to defend the Marshall Islands the same
as the United States. The Tigris is owned by Oaktree, an American private
equity fund, and has been leased long-term to the Danish company Maersk Line;
its daily operations are conducted by Rickmers Shipmanagement, a company with
offices in Germany and Singapore. The Tigris crew is Asians and Europeans. It
is registered as a Marshall Islands ship, as a “flag of convenience.” The Pentagon lawyers had a plausible argument that
the Compact’s obligation that the U.S. defend the Marshalls “as the United
States and its citizens are defended” does not encompass the Tigris Maersk.
In
another perspective, NY Times reported that the tiny Republic of the Marshall
Islands has taken on a vital role in international shipping, with its flag
flying over the third-largest number of ships in the world.Its
foreign minister showed up at a recent
meeting of the International Maritime Organization and proposed limiting the
amount of climate-warming gases that the shipping industry could emit, causing a stir. “It’s a matter of survival for us,” Tony de
Brum, the minister of foreign affairs, said by telephone. The Marshall Islands
consist of low-lying coral atolls that could be swamped by rising sea levels
associated with climate change. “We cannot address climate change without
looking at all the components that are contributing to the problem of
emissions,” Mr. de Brum said.
The Marshall
Islands’ call for greenhouse gas reduction targets for shipping failed to win
approval at the I.M.O., which is a United Nations agency that establishes rules
for international shipping. But it has reinvigorated the debate about how to
control carbon pollution from shipping, which accounted for about 2.8 percent
of global greenhouse gas emissions between 2007 and 2012, according to a report
last year by the I.M.O. Emissions from the sector are projected to rise
anywhere from 50 percent to 250 percent by 2050 under “business as usual”
scenarios, the report found. In April, the European Union approved a
regulation, scheduled to take effect in 2018, that will allow it to collect
information on the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from large ships
docking in its ports.The European Union does not cover international shipping
in its greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system.
The shipping
industry resisted the European Union rule, saying that it would reveal
proprietary information about ships and their cargo. More broadly, shipping
officials maintain that their industry is already highly efficient, compared
with other forms of transportation, and contend that measures are in place to
increase the energy efficiency of ships.Shipowners and builders need to take measures to increase energy efficiency.
Currently many large ships are steaming across the ocean more slowly than their
engine capacity allows, which saves fuel, though experts say that could change
as demand, which has been lagging, picks up. The designs of ship parts like the
propeller, the hull and the engine are likely to become more efficient. Most ships run on diesel, but the world’s
first container ship capable of running on liquefied natural gas will make its
inaugural commercial voyage around mid-October, between the United States and
Puerto Rico.
For
the Marshall Islands, the clash between shipping and stopping climate change
has recently been thrust into the spotlight by accidents involving drilling
rigs registered to the nation.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
26th Jun
2o15.
‘Marshall Islands’- is located near the
equator in the Pacific Ocean; geographically, part of the larger island group
of Micronesia. The country's population is spread out over 24 coral atolls,
comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. It is reported that the tiny island republic in the Pacific
Ocean, made an impassioned plea to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
seeking initiation of proceedings against India for not pursuing nuclear disarmament,
but India is yet to file response to it.
Flag of convenience
[FOC] is the business practice of
registering a merchant ship in a sovereign state different from that of the
ship's owners, and flying that state's civil ensign on the ship. Ships are
registered under flags of convenience to reduce operating costs or avoid the
regulations of the owner's country. This
term has been in vogue since 1950s and vessels with FOC are considered
inferior. In 1968, Liberia grew to surpass the United Kingdom as the world's
largest shipping register and, as of 2009, more than half of the world’s
merchant ships were registered with open registries, with Panama, Liberia, and
Marshall Islands flags accounting for almost 40% of the entire world fleet as
calculated by tonnage.
To
the Q whether it is – Flag, Crew or Cargo, which determines the definition of a
US flag ship – the answer would be the ship flying the U.S. flag. But such a
ship has to use an American crew, follow U.S. safety rules, and be built in a
U.S. shipyard. That's very expensive. So many ships become "flags of
convenience." These are the flags from countries that typically have no
restrictions on what nationality your crew should be (or how much they should
be paid) or where such ship should be built
or repaired.
U.S. has a lot of
government-related cargo moving around the world, like military supplies or
disaster relief aid funded by U.S. tax dollars.
The politicos an decision makers feel that those cargoes should move on
U.S. ships. And so over the decades laws have been enacted to require just
that. Paradoxically, the U.S. does not have enough home-grown shipping capacity
to handle all its cargo. Some foreign lines are allowed to fly the U.S. flags
on portions of their fleet in exchange for a retainer and a guarantee of ship
space when needed. Another complication,
is ship may be owned by one, operated by another and chartered to another.
On April 28, the
government of Iran seized the Maersk
Tigris cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The ship and its 24 crew were held captive and released much later.
The ship was flying the flag of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the
United States has a treaty obligation to defend the Marshall Islands the same
as the United States. The Tigris is owned by Oaktree, an American private
equity fund, and has been leased long-term to the Danish company Maersk Line;
its daily operations are conducted by Rickmers Shipmanagement, a company with
offices in Germany and Singapore. The Tigris crew is Asians and Europeans. It
is registered as a Marshall Islands ship, as a “flag of convenience.” The Pentagon lawyers had a plausible argument that
the Compact’s obligation that the U.S. defend the Marshalls “as the United
States and its citizens are defended” does not encompass the Tigris Maersk.
In
another perspective, NY Times reported that the tiny Republic of the Marshall
Islands has taken on a vital role in international shipping, with its flag
flying over the third-largest number of ships in the world.Its
foreign minister showed up at a recent
meeting of the International Maritime Organization and proposed limiting the
amount of climate-warming gases that the shipping industry could emit, causing a stir. “It’s a matter of survival for us,” Tony de
Brum, the minister of foreign affairs, said by telephone. The Marshall Islands
consist of low-lying coral atolls that could be swamped by rising sea levels
associated with climate change. “We cannot address climate change without
looking at all the components that are contributing to the problem of
emissions,” Mr. de Brum said.
The Marshall
Islands’ call for greenhouse gas reduction targets for shipping failed to win
approval at the I.M.O., which is a United Nations agency that establishes rules
for international shipping. But it has reinvigorated the debate about how to
control carbon pollution from shipping, which accounted for about 2.8 percent
of global greenhouse gas emissions between 2007 and 2012, according to a report
last year by the I.M.O. Emissions from the sector are projected to rise
anywhere from 50 percent to 250 percent by 2050 under “business as usual”
scenarios, the report found. In April, the European Union approved a
regulation, scheduled to take effect in 2018, that will allow it to collect
information on the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from large ships
docking in its ports.The European Union does not cover international shipping
in its greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system.
The shipping
industry resisted the European Union rule, saying that it would reveal
proprietary information about ships and their cargo. More broadly, shipping
officials maintain that their industry is already highly efficient, compared
with other forms of transportation, and contend that measures are in place to
increase the energy efficiency of ships.Shipowners and builders need to take measures to increase energy efficiency.
Currently many large ships are steaming across the ocean more slowly than their
engine capacity allows, which saves fuel, though experts say that could change
as demand, which has been lagging, picks up. The designs of ship parts like the
propeller, the hull and the engine are likely to become more efficient. Most ships run on diesel, but the world’s
first container ship capable of running on liquefied natural gas will make its
inaugural commercial voyage around mid-October, between the United States and
Puerto Rico.
For
the Marshall Islands, the clash between shipping and stopping climate change
has recently been thrust into the spotlight by accidents involving drilling
rigs registered to the nation.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
26th Jun
2o15.
