Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state. The term is often used pejoratively, and although common, the practice is sometimes regarded as contentious.
Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and engineering. The organisation dates to 1760. Its stated aims are to enhance the safety of life, property, and the environment, by helping its clients to improve the safety and performance of complex projects, supply chains and critical infrastructure.
Ship-breaking is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction of raw materials, chiefly scrap. Modern ships have a lifespan of 25 to 30 years before corrosion, metal fatigue and a lack of parts render them uneconomical to operate. Ship-breaking allows the materials from the ship, especially steel, to be recycled and made into new products. This lowers the demand for mined iron ore and reduces energy use in the steelmaking process. Fixtures and other equipment on board the vessels can also be reused. While ship-breaking is sustainable, there are concerns about its use by poorer countries without stringent environmental legislation. It is also labour-intensive, and considered one of the world's most dangerous industries.
The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) is an international maritime treaty which sets out minimum safety standards in the construction, equipment and operation of merchant ships. The International Maritime Organization convention requires signatory flag states to ensure that ships flagged by them comply with at least these standards.
A marine surveyor is a person who inspects, surveys, or examines marine vessels in order to assess damage, inspect or monitor their condition and that of any cargo on board. Marine surveyors also inspect equipment intended for new or existing vessels to ensure compliance with various standards or specifications. Marine surveys typically include the structure, machinery and equipment and general condition of a vessel and/or cargo. They also involve judging materials on board and their condition. Though a largely unregulated profession, marine surveyors are generally trained specifically for the role and usually selected after thorough evaluation procedures. Their duties apply to a wide range of seafaring vessels.
The International Register of Shipping or IS was established in 1993, and is an independent classification society which provides classification, certification, verification and advisory services. The International Register of Shipping also offers consulting services well suited for the shipping and offshore industry.
The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) is an American maritime classification society established in 1862. Its stated mission to promote the security of life, property, and the natural environment, primarily through the development and verification of standards for the design, construction and operational maintenance of marine and offshore assets.
A ship classification society or ship classification organisation is a non-governmental organization that establishes and maintains technical standards for the construction and operation of ships and offshore structures. Classification societies certify that the construction of a vessel comply with relevant standards and carry out regular surveys in service to ensure continuing compliance with the standards. Currently, more than 50 organizations describe their activities as including marine classification, twelve of which are members of the International Association of Classification Societies.
The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) is a technically based non-governmental organization that currently consists of eleven member marine classification societies. More than 90% of the world's cargo-carrying ships’ tonnage is covered by the classification standards set by member societies of IACS.
Nippon Kaiji Kyokai is a ship classification society.
The flag state of a merchant vessel is the jurisdiction under whose laws the vessel is registered or licensed, and is deemed the nationality of the vessel. A merchant vessel must be registered and can only be registered in one jurisdiction, but may change the jurisdiction in which it is registered. The flag state has the authority and responsibility to enforce regulations over vessels registered under its flag, including those relating to inspection, certification, and issuance of safety and pollution prevention documents. As a ship operates under the laws of its flag state, these laws are applicable if the ship is involved in an admiralty case.
Port state control (PSC) is an inspection regime for countries to inspect foreign-registered ships in port other than those of the flag state and take action against ships that are not in compliance. Inspectors for PSC are called PSC officers (PSCOs), and are required to investigate compliance with the requirements of international conventions, such as SOLAS, MARPOL, STCW, and the MLC. Inspections can involve checking that the vessel is crewed and operated in compliance with applicable international law, and verifying the competency of the ship's master and officers, and the ship's condition and equipment.
The stability conditions of watercraft are the various standard loading configurations to which a ship, boat, or offshore platform may be subjected. They are recognized by classification societies such as Det Norske Veritas, Lloyd's Register and American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). Classification societies follow rules and guidelines laid down by International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) conventions, the International Maritime Organization and laws of the country under which the vessel is flagged, such as the Code of Federal Regulations.
Polish Register of Shipping,, also known as PRS, is an independent classification society established in 1936. It is a not-for-profit company working on the marine market, developing technical rules and supervising their implementation, managing risk and performing surveys on ships. PRS has been authorized by a number of State Maritime Administrations to act on their behalf. PRS is the only classification societies which has its own team of scuba divers surveyors performing underwater inspections. The Society's head office is placed at 126 Aleja gen. Hallera, Gdańsk, Poland.
The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term covering two distinct meanings. The IMO ship identification number is a unique ship identifier; the IMO company and registered owner identification number is used to identify uniquely each company and/or registered owner managing ships of at least 100 gross tons (gt). The schemes are managed in parallel, but IMO company/owner numbers may also be obtained by managers of vessels not having IMO ship numbers. IMO numbers were introduced to improve maritime safety and reduce fraud and pollution, under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).
Croatian Register of Shipping, also known as CRS, is an independent classification society established in 1949. It is a non-profit organisation working on the marine market, developing technical rules and supervising their implementation, managing risk and performing surveys on ships. The Society's head office is in Split.
The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) maintains a ship register of the Russian Federation, based in Saint Petersburg, and is a marine classification society. Its activities aim to enhance safety of navigation, safety of life at sea, security of ships, safe carriage of cargo, environmental safety of ships, prevention of pollution from ships, and performance of authorisations issued by maritime administrations and customers.
Ship management is the activity of managing marine vessels. The vessels under management could be owned by a sister concern of the ship management company or by independent vessel owners. A vessel owning company that generally has several vessels in its fleet, entrusts the fleet management to a single or multiple ship management companies. Ship management is often entrusted to third parties due to the various hassles that are involved in managing a ship. For instance, ships could be considered as large factories that travel across seas under various weather conditions for several days at a stretch. These vessels are equipped with several types of machinery that require appropriate maintenance and the associated spares on board. In the scenario of a vessel lacking adequate maintenance, this could lead to the breakdown of the equipment in the middle of a voyage at sea. A breakdown could be an expensive affair. A second scenario would be – a vessel is continuously on the move or under some sort of activity and hence requires a competent crew. The documents of the crew need to comply with international regulations, their transportation to and from the vessel must be arranged for, their competencies must align with the requirement of the vessel and must complement the skillsets of the existing onboard crew. Hence several parameters must be considered which is a tedious job.
Vessel safety surveys are inspections of the structure and equipment of a vessel to assess the condition of the surveyed items and check that they comply with legal or classification society requirements for insurance and registration. They may occur at any time when there is reason to suspect that the condition has changed significantly since the previous survey, and the first survey is generally during construction or before first registration. The criteria for acceptance are defined by the licensing or registration authority for a variety of equipment vital to the safe operation of the vessel, such as safety equipment, lifting equipment, hull structure, static stability, ground tackle, propulsion machinery, auxiliary machinery, etc. The SOLAS Convention, specifies safety equipment for commercial vessels operating internationally.
The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments is a 2004 international maritime treaty which requires signatory flag states to ensure that ships flagged by them comply with standards and procedures for the management and control of ships' ballast water and sediments. The Convention aims to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to another and halt damage to the marine environment from ballast water discharge, by minimising the uptake and subsequent discharge of sediments and organisms. From 2024, all ships are required to have approved Ballast Water Management Treatment System, according to the D2 standard. Existing ships are required to install an approved system, which may cost up to 5 million USD per ship to install. To assist with implementation, the IMO has released 14 Guidance documents in regards to the Convention including the G2 Guidelines for Ballast Water Sampling, G4 Guidelines for Ballast Water management and G6 Guidelines for Ballast Water Exchange. As of 15 July 2021, 86 countries were contracting States to the BWM Convention.
