By
Michele Witthaus |
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has published its latest annual Shipping Industry Flag State Performance Table.
Available from www.ics-shipping.org, it collates data available in the public domain to encourage shipowners to examine whether a flag state has substance before using it and to encourage them to pressure their flag administration for any necessary improvements. Feedback from governments has been addressed in this year’s document under the supervision of ICS member national shipowners’ associations.
ICS Secretary General Peter Hinchliffe said: “ICS makes no apology for continuing to subject flag states to scrutiny, in the same way that ships and company procedures are rightly subjected to inspection by governments. Our overriding interest in promoting high performing flags is that they are less likely to tolerate sub-standard operators who would otherwise enjoy an unfair commercial advantage over the vast majority of fully compliant shipping companies.”