Economic benefit Vs Social responsibility for the crew

 Globalisation  Confrontational Labour Conditions  Flag of Convenience – Absence of the “Genuine Link” Requirement  Registration  “Genuine Link” requirement  Pluralism – Stakeholder Theory  Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) – International Sales of Goods (CISG)  Business and Human Relations

 Dates back in the 1990s.  An agent towards economic enhancement, which empowers the industry to function.  Hence assisting financial integration within the international market.

 The success of the industry relies on the work done by the seafarers  The ones responsible for the industry to work free from any deficiencies, rather than the shareholders (i.e. ship owners) acts.

FOC is has no clear definition:  Boczek: a Flag of Convenience (FOC) as “flag of any country allowing the registration of foreign owned and foreign controlled vessels under conditions which are convenient and opportune for the persons who are registering the vessels”.  International Transport Workers’ Federation: as “where beneficial ownership and control of a vessel is found to lie elsewhere than in the country of the flag the vessel is flying”.

 Either: “genuine connection” (TMC; traditional maritime countries)  Or: “open registry” (FOC)

 Ship owners need to consider both economic benefits in choosing a flag state to register their ships but also they should consider the advantages to society, namely to their employees.  The countries which operate as open registries, levy minimum or no taxes “on profits arising from the operation of vessels under their flags.”

 ILO - Geneva 1956  The Report of an Intergovernmental Working Group/UNCTAD: “genuine link”  But: 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas - Article 5: flexibility for state implementation

 Universal acceptance :1982, Art.91 of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea  Not yet been ratified  needs 40 signatories – up until today only 14 countries have signed it

 Enlightened shareholder value: a compromise between shareholder value and pluralist approach; it represents the consensus of the two, placing emphasis on both the shareholder’s maximisation of profit but also the stakeholder’s interests.  Pluralism places emphasis on the shareholder, and stresses the fact that directors should only act for the shareholder’s maximization of profit.  Stakeholder theory: argues that the company is an entity where stakeholders play a huge role in the running of it.

 The concept of a uniform EU contract law system, was created in the EU domestic trade and it is designed to produce uniformity and flexibility, thus accommodating the development in legal thinking in the field of contract law, within the EU.  The PECL, is globally recognised as a unified system of EU contract law, which takes into consideration the European domestic trade. It has been defined as a “set of general rules which are designed to provide maximum flexibility and thus accommodate future development in legal thinking in the field of contract law.”

 Social responsibility in the industry has sometimes been held to be an essential requirement, in order for the industry to maintain good reputational picture by preserving business ethics and human relations.  This emanates from the fact that world trade and transport of goods relies on the maritime sector thereby prosperity of the sector is critical in providing efficiency in the economic sense and social advancement.

 Any questions?  THANK YOU